Apollo 12 facts for kids

Apollo 12 logo

Apollo 12 was the sixth manned flight in the Apollo program. It was the second manned spacecraft to land on the Moon. Apollo 12 was launched on November 14, 1969. Charles "Pete" Conrad and Alan Bean become the third and fourth persons to stand on the lunar surface, while Richard Gordon stayed in orbit around the Moon. The two astronauts spent over seven hours exploring the surface of the Ocean of Storms. They brought back pieces of Surveyor III which had landed on the Moon in April 1967. They set up a number of experiments which would continue to collect information after they left. The Lunar ascent stage, the part that helped it take off from the surface, was deliberately crashed back onto the Moon so that shock waves could be measured by seismic equipment left behind.

Images for kids

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  Conrad and Bean rehearse their lunar surface activities before the mission

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  Conrad and Bean in the LM simulator

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  SA-507 en route to the launch pad, September 1969

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  The Apollo 12 CSM on a test stand, June 30, 1969

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  Apollo 12's Passive Seismic Experiment

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  Bean places the fuel element into the SNAP-27 RTG

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  Apollo 12 launches from Kennedy Space Center, November 14, 1969

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  View of Earth taken en route to the Moon

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  Lunar Module Intrepid above the Moon. The small crater in the foreground is Ammonius; the large crater at right is Herschel. Photograph by Richard F. Gordon Jr. on board the Command Module Yankee Clipper.

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  Bean prepares to step onto the lunar surface

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  Conrad with the U.S. flag

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  Gordon in the CM simulator

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  A solar eclipse seen from Apollo 12

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  Apollo 12 CM Yankee Clipper on display at the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, Virginia