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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Skyman, post: 2023200, member: 28299&quot;]The second Moon landing, by the crew of Apollo 12, occurred 45 years ago today.&nbsp; Pete Conrad, the shortest American astronaut of the time, and one known to have a good sense of humor, said for his first step on the Moon, &quot;That might have been a small step for Neal, but that sure was a long one for me&quot;.&nbsp; Pete was the commander (CDR) of Apollo 12 and the 3rd man to walk on the Moon.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have been blessed to get to know two of the three crew members of that mission.&nbsp; Unfortunately Pete got killed in a motorcycle accident in the 1990&#039;s (he mentioned at one point in his life that he liked anything fast).&nbsp; Over the last 5+ years I&#039;ve gotten to know Dick Gordon, the command module pilot (CMP) and Alan Bean, who was the lunar module pilot (LMP) and the 4th man to walk on the Moon.&nbsp; I have gotten fascinated by the mission and the crew, and have made it the focus of my space collecting. </p><p><br /></p><p>In broad brushstrokes Apollo 12 launched on 11/14/69.&nbsp; It went into lunar orbit on 11/18 and the LM crewed by Conrad and Bean landed on the Moon on 11/19 in the Ocean of Storms.&nbsp; They stayed on the Moon for about 36 hours, and did 2 Moon walks with a total duration of just under 8 hours.&nbsp; The primary goal of the mission was to do a pinpoint landing (Apollo 11 landed miles from where it was supposed to land).&nbsp; The Apollo 12 target was the Surveyor 3 lunar probe.&nbsp; The crew was successful in all it&#039;s assigned tasks, with the one glitch of frying the TV camera by pointing it directly towards the sun.&nbsp; This caused the conspiracy theorists to come out in force about UFOs, aliens, etc.&nbsp; Aside from that, the crew was successful in a pinpoint landing, collecting ~ 76 pounds of lunar rock, in setting up the first true science laboratory on another world, the ALSEP (Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package) and in returning pieces of the Surveyor 3 lunar probe so that people could see what long term exposure to space did to spacecraft.&nbsp; The CM Yankee Clipper returned safely to Earth on 11/24/69.</p><p><br /></p><p>A healthy percentage of Americans have heard about the explosion on Apollo 13.&nbsp; Very few have heard about the second most dangerous incident on flying to the Moon, which occurred on Apollo 12.&nbsp; Thirty-seven seconds after launch into a rain storm the rocket was struck twice by lightning.&nbsp; The ionized exhaust trail of the rocket acted like a lightning rod connecting the spacecraft to the ground.&nbsp; Essentially all the electrical systems in the CM were knocked out.&nbsp; Luckily for the crew, the Saturn V rocket&#039;s electrical system was self contained and was not affected by the two lightning strikes.&nbsp; The Saturn V continued to perform flawlessly while Mission Control and the Apollo 12 crew tried to figure out what to do.&nbsp; The Electrical, Environmental and Consumables Manager (EECOM) John Aaron remembered a similar pattern in a simulation and made a call, &quot;SCE to Aux&quot; (signal conditioner electronics to auxiliary).&nbsp; The call was obscure, and neither the CDR or the CMP recognized it.&nbsp; Al Bean did and saved the mission, by throwing the appropriate switch.&nbsp; After safely reaching a parking orbit around the Earth the assorted systems were checked, the craft was found flight worthy, and the crew was given permission to go for the Moon.</p><p><br /></p><p>I know Al and Dick and they are a complete Hoot!&nbsp; They Love to give each other excrement.&nbsp; I have one numismatic item for the flight.&nbsp; I found a 1969 $1 star note, and several months later had them both sign it.&nbsp; As mentioned the two love to play with each other, and Al, after I mentioned about star notes, in his signing gave Dick 5 stars (both are retired US Navy).&nbsp; Here is a picture of the $1 bill and the 2 men.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated/StarBillScansm_zps97695683.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated/ssa5-StarBillDA1_zpsa1af60f2.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>For those of you just interested in numismatic items that is the end of the thread.&nbsp; For those of you interested in other aspects of Apollo 12 here are other pieces from my collection. </p><p><br /></p><p>Just to give you an idea of how difficult synchronizing a Moon shot is, here is the processing schedule for Apollo 12.&nbsp; You&#039;ll note that there are different tracks for testing (for example ALT CHAM stands for altitude chamber), construction of the Saturn V (AS-507), the Command and Service Module (CSM-108), the Lunar Module (LM-6) and readying the launch pad (SV PAD A).</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated2/ProcessScheduleL_zpse4c06a04.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>As mentioned, the second most dangerous event in the flown Apollo program was the launch of Apollo 12.&nbsp; Here is a link to an ~ 4 minute YouTube clip about SCE to Aux:</p><p><br /></p><p>[MEDIA=youtube]eWQIryll8y8[/MEDIA]</p><p><br /></p><p>I am lucky enough to own the two 2-sided (flown) launch checklist pages of Apollo 12 (unfortunately for CoinTalk there is a 20 picture limit for a given post, so I&#039;ve cut out one of the pages.&nbsp; On it Alan Bean has written SCE to Aux):</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated/A12_L2-7sm.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated/A12_L2-8sm.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated/A12_L2-9sm.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>During the trip between the Earth and the Moon the LM drew electricity from the CM by an electrical umbilical cord.&nbsp; Here&#039;s a pic of Al and myself discussing it.&nbsp; The blue end plugged into the CM Yankee Clipper and the silver colored end plugged into the LM Intrepid.&nbsp; (BTW, this would also be the type of cord used on Apollo 13 to re-power up the CM at the end of the mission, only in this case the electricity came from the LM).</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated2/A12CMtoLM1_zpsf2d4694c.jpeg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated2/aa2-3AS_zps2adf90b2.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>As far as objects that have flown to the surface of the Moon, here&#039;s a picture of a lightbulb used in the COAS, a sighting device on the LM that was kind of the 1960&#039;s variant of a heads up display.&nbsp; It was used to help the astronauts find the appropriate landing spot on the Moon, and then rendezvous with the CM after the LM has launched from the Moon&#039;s surface.&nbsp; The lightbulb helped to light up the grid system in the COAS. </p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated/A12LBA1-COASsm_zps83b0336e.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>When you are landing or lifting off from the Moon you need to make sure things are properly tied down.&nbsp; Here&#039;s one of the LM stowage straps.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated/A12LMtiedown.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Here are a few pictures of Al carrying the ALSEP to it&#039;s deploy site, setting it up, and a look back from it to the LM:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated/A12WalkInTheSunL_zpsc44ccb23.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated/A12ALSEP-Magnetsm_zpsadefcb52.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated/A12ALSEP2LML_zps857a7bad.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Meanwhile, up in orbit, Dick Gordon would be finding one of the &quot;Gotcha&quot; pranks that the backup crew stowed aboard the CM.&nbsp; Here&#039;s the first Playmate picture flown to the Moon.&nbsp; FYI the Playmate is DeDe Lind.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated/A12DeDeLindSm.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>While in orbit Dick would have been reviewing checklists to make sure he did the right task, at the right time, in the correct manner.&nbsp; Here&#039;s an example of a checklist and just one part of it&#039;s index:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated/A12OpsCL1-CoverSm_zpsb6a249c3.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated/A12OpsCL2-IndexSm_zps7326d204.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>In order to keep any given checklist ready at hand Dick would have put it in the larger pocket of his leg assembly that strapped around his leg:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated/A12LegAssembly1sm_zpsad551ca8.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>When Dick had a little down time he might have decided to comb his hair or eat a little snack:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated2/A12combSm_zpse5c9a8e8.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated/Apollo12Bread.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>After spending roughly 36 hours on the Moon&#039;s surface the ascent stage of the LM Intrepid successfully lifted off and docked with the CM Yankee Clipper.&nbsp; The Yankee Clipper returned safely to Earth 4 days later.</p><p><br /></p><p>One thing that particularly pisses off all the Apollo astronauts is the conspiracy theory that the Moon landings were faked.&nbsp; In 2009 NASA launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) which took high definition images of the Moon&#039;s surface.&nbsp; Here is a LRO picture of the Apollo 12 landing site.&nbsp; If you look closely you can see not only the LM Intrepid descent stage and Surveyor 3, but also the ALSEP and even the footprints/trails from the astronauts walking on the Moon.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m246/SkyMan58/SpaceRelated/A12LROsignedL_zps79a21c5d.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Just think about it.&nbsp; This all occurred 45 years ago...[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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