Mission Overview
  ================
    Apollo 12 was launched on 14 November 1969 UT 16:22:00 on a Saturn
    V Rocket from Kennedy Space Center.  Lunar orbit insertion took
    place on 18 November 1969 UT 03:47:23.  The Lunar Module (LM) landed
    on the Moon on 19 November 1969 UT 06:54:35, in the Oceanus
    Procellarum (Ocean of Storms) region at 3.012 degrees South and
    23.422 degrees West while the Command and Service Module (CSM)
    orbited the Moon.  The lunar ascent module lifted off from the Moon
    on 20 November UT 14:25:47.  After docking with the CSM at 17:58:22
    UT, the LM was jettisoned at 20:21:30 and intentionally crashed
    into the Moon creating the first recorded artificial moonquake.
    Trans-earth injection began at 20:49:16 UT on 21 November with a
    firing of the CSM main engine.  The Apollo 12 Command Module
    splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on 24 November 1969 at 20:58:24
    UT after a mission elapsed time of 244 hours, 36 minutes, 24
    seconds.
 
    The astronauts on Apollo 12 were commander Charles Conrad, Jr.,
    command module pilot Richard F. Gordon, and lunar module pilot Alan
    L. Bean.
 
    Apollo 12 was the second mission in which humans walked on the
    lunar surface and returned to Earth.  During their 31.5-hour stay
    on the Moon, the astronauts deployed and activated the Apollo Lunar
    Surface Experiment Package (ALSEP) near the landing site,
    performed scientific experiments, took photographs, examined the
    nearby Surveyor 3 spacecraft which had landed on the Moon in April
    1967 and removed pieces for later examination on Earth, and
    collected 34 kg of lunar samples on two moonwalk extravehicular
    activities (EVAs) totaling 7 hours and 50 minutes. The lunar
    surface stay-time was 31.5 hours and the lunar orbit lasted 89
    hours, with a total of 45 orbits.
 
 
  Surface Operations
  ==================
    Conrad and Bean made two moonwalk extra-vehicular activities (EVAs)
    of a total duration of 7 hours 45 minutes covering a total traverse
    distance of 1.35 km.  The first was from 11:32:35 to 15:28:38 UT
    (6:32 a.m. to 10:28 a.m. EST) and involved sample collections in
    the vicinity of the LM and deployment of the ALSEP and solar wind
    composition foil collector.  The TV camera was inadvertently pointed
    towards the Sun when it was being set up and the vidicon tube was
    damaged rendering the camera inoperable.  At the end of the EVA they
    visited a wide subdued crater near the landing site. On the second
    EVA, on November 20 from 03:54:45 to 07:44:00 UT (10:54 p.m. Nov.
    19 to 2:44 a.m. Nov. 20 EST) they completed a 1.3 km geology
    traverse, visiting Head, Bench, and Sharp craters collecting
    samples and taking photographs.  They then visited Surveyor crater
    and examined the Surveyor 3 spacecraft, bringing back about 10 kg
    of parts including the Surveyor camera for later study on Earth.
    They collected a total of 34.4 kg of rock and soil samples and also
    collected the solar wind foil.  The LM lifted off on 20 November at
    14:25:47 UT (9:25 a.m. EST) after spending 31 hours 31 minutes on
    the Moon.
 
 
  Surface Experiments
  ===================
    The Apollo 12 astronauts performed and deployed many experiments on
    the lunar surface along with the geologic studies, sample return,
    and surface photography:
 
      - The Soil Mechanics Investigations studied the physical properties
        of the lunar regolith using tools and observations recorded by
        video and audio;
 
      - The Solar Wind Composition experiment collected samples of
        solar wind on a large piece of foil which was returned to Earth;
 
      - Pieces of the Surveyor 3 lander were collected by the crew and
        bought back to Earth for examination.
 
    Other experiments were part of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments
    Package (ALSEP) which was emplaced at the landing site by the
    astronauts.  The instruments, connected by cables to a central
    station which controlled power and communications, ran
    autonomously.  Data collected was converted to a telemetry format
    and transmitted to Earth.  Many of these experiments returned data
    until September 1977, when the ALSEP network was turned off due to
    budgetary constraints.
 
    The Apollo 12 ALSEP instruments consisted of:
 
      - A Passive Seismometer, designed to measure seismic activity
        and physical properties of the lunar crust and interior;
 
      - A Lunar Surface Magnetometer, designed to measure the magnetic
        field at the ALSEP site;
 
      - A Solar Wind Spectrometer, designed to measure protons and
        electrons from the solar wind and magnetotail plasma impinging
        on the lunar surface;
 
      - A Suprathermal Ion Detector. Designed ot measure positive ions
        reaching the lunar surface to provide data on the plasma
        interaction between the solar wind and the Moon;
 
      - A Cold Cathode Ion Gage, designed to measure the density of
        neutral particles in the tenuous lunar atmosphere;
 
      - A Lunar Dust Detector, designed to assess the long-term
        effects of the lunar dust, radiation, and thermal environment on
        solar cells.
 
 
  Orbital Science Experiments
  ===========================
    Investigations were also carried out from lunar orbit in the
    Apollo 12 Command and Service Module.  Hand-held photography was
    performed from the command module, and other investigations were
    performed from lunar orbit orbit and during the cruise between
    Earth and Moon:
 
    - The Multispectral Photography Experiment obtained photographs
      of the Moon at different wavelengths to map lunar surface color
      variations;
 
    - The Window Meteoroid experiment studied micrometeoroid impacts
      on the Apollo 12 Command Module heat shield windows to obtain
      information about the mass flux of micrometeorites;
 
    - An S-Band Transponder Experiment carefully tracked the CSM
      orbit and measured the lunar gravity field.