Episode 1106- On the Shores Of the Ocean of Storms: Celebrating Apollo 12

In this installment of Talking Space, on the very day fifty years ago we look back at the accomplishment that was the Apollo 12 mission by letting its crew Mission Commander Charles " Pete" Conrad, Command Module Pilot Richard Gordon, and Lunar Module Pilot Alan Bean tell their "travelers tales" to us during a post-flight press conference. 

Apollo 12 did a lot more than simply get hit lightning on its way to the Moon, Conrad and Bean brought on board their Lunar Module, Intrepid,  accomplished the first piloted precision landing on the lunar Ocean of Storms region some 500 feet away from where the Surveyor 3 spacecraft had landed some 31 months earlier. A precision landing was key to future exploration of the lunar surface.

The duo of Conrad and Bean performed a geological survey of the landing site, successfully set up the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package or ALSEP, and conducted a full inspection of the Surveyor 3 spacecraft, removing three items from the probe to return to Earth for material study.

Richard Gordon on board the Command Service Module Yankee Clipper was able to locate the landing site from lunar orbit and perform a photographic study of two future landing sites, the Fra Mauro Highlands targeted for Apollo 13 and the Descartes Region which would be the landing site for Apollo 16. 

Join us as we recount the story of Apollo 12 with those who lived it. 

Host: Gene Mikulka