NASA Apollo 12 Patch 4" Embroidered Emblem

Mission Objective
The primary mission objectives of the second crewed lunar landing included an extensive series of lunar exploration tasks by the lunar module, or LM, crew, as well as the deployment of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package, or ALSEP, which was to be left on the moon's surface to gather seismic, scientific and engineering data throughout a long period of time.

Other Apollo 12 objectives included a selenological inspection; surveys and samplings in landing areas; development of techniques for precision-landing capabilities; further evaluations of the human capability to work in the lunar environment for a prolonged period of time; deployment and retrieval of other scientific experiments; and photography of candidate exploration sites for future missions.

The astronauts also were to retrieve portions of the Surveyor III spacecraft, which had soft-landed on the moon April 20, 1967, a short distance from the selected landing site of Apollo 12.

The flight plan for Apollo 12 was similar to that of Apollo 11, except Apollo 12 was to fly a higher inclination to the lunar equator and leave the free-return trajectory after the second translunar midcourse correction. This first non-free-return trajectory on an Apollo mission was designed to allow a daylight launch and a translunar injection above the Pacific Ocean. It also allowed a stretch of the translunar coast to gain the desired landing site lighting at the time of LM descent, conserved fuel and permitted the Goldstone, Calif., tracking antenna to monitor the LM descent and landing.

In addition, the Apollo 12 flight plan called for the LM ascent stage to provide a measured seismic stimulus for the ALSEP seismic experiment. Following crew return to the command and service module, or CSM, a controlled burn of the remaining propellants in the empty ascent stage caused the stage to crash into the moon, providing a measurable seismic shock impulse.
"The Pinpoint Mission..."

Crew
Charles Conrad Jr.
Commander

Alan L. Bean
Lunar Module Pilot

Richard F. Gordon Jr.
Command Module Pilot

Backup Crew
David R. Scott
Commander

James B. Irwin
Lunar Module Pilot

Alfred M. Worden
Command Module Pilot

Payload
Yankee Clipper (CM-108)
Intrepid (LM-6)

Launch
Nov. 14, 1969; 11:22 a.m. EDT
Launch Pad 39A
Saturn-V AS-507
High Bay 3
Mobile Launcher-2
Firing Room 2

Orbit
Altitude: 118.55 miles
Inclination: 32.54 degrees
Orbits: 45 revolutions
Duration: 10 days, four hours, 36 minutes, 25 seconds
Distance: 952,354 miles
Lunar Location: Ocean of Storms
Lunar Coordinates: 3.04 degrees south, 23.42 degrees west

Landing
November 24, 1969; 3:58:24 p.m. EST
Pacific Ocean
Recovery Ship: USS Hornet
 

NASA Space Mission Patch Collectable Souvenir emblem from the U.K No.1 NASA Space Store.