The Incredible Journey of Apollo 12
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2012-05-28に共有
But how would it respond to a powerful electrical storm now gathering above the launch pad? That was just the beginning of the incredible journey of Apollo 12.
With three astronauts fastened into their seats, the countdown proceeded. Astronaut and Mission Commander Pete Conrad would say later: "The flight was extremely normal, for the first 36 seconds." The five engines of the Saturn 5's huge first stage were designed to burn through 5 million pounds of liquid oxygen in just two and a half minutes, and to send the spacecraft up 67 kilometers above the Atlantic Ocean.
When it reached an altitude of 2000 meters, something unexpected happened. Racing through the stormy environment, the rocket generated a lightning bolt that traveled down its highly conductive exhaust trail.
Another bolt hit 16 seconds later. All of the spacecraft's circuit breakers shut off. The tracking system was lost. A young flight controller in Houston, Texas instructed astronaut Alan Bean on how to turn on an auxiliary power system. The mission was back on track. Once in Earth orbit, all systems appeared to check out, and flight control officials gave the crew the green light to leave Earth.
The astronauts were not told of concern that the lighting strikes had damaged the pyrotechnic system used to deploy the parachutes that would ease them back through the Earth's atmosphere. If that system failed, the astronauts would not return alive.
This mission would have its share of perils, not unlike those faced by a long line of past explorers, whose courage and restless spirit propelled them into the unknown. This one, however, was backed by years of technology development, test flights, astronaut training, and the largest support team back home that any mission ever had.
But hundreds of thousands of kilometers out in space the three astronauts were pretty much on their own. What made Apollo 12 unique was the friendship and chemistry of its crew. Conrad, Bean, and Richard Gordon were all Navy men. Working and training together on the Gemini program, they had gained each other's respect and trust.
Now, hurtling across more than 400,000 kilometers to the moon, they prepared to fullfill the mission's goals. One was to set up a scientific station designed to record seismic, atmospheric, and solar data.
Another was to visit an unmanned lunar probe called Surveyor III that had landed there two and a half years before. The idea was to bring back a part to study the effect of the lunar environment.
A third goal was to improve on the landing of Apollo 11 just 5 months before. Dropping down over a region called the Sea of Tranquility, pilot Neil Armstrong found himself heading straight for a crater full of boulders. He had to fly over the planned landing site and find a new one. Now kilometers beyond the target, the lander, called Eagle, was literally running out of gas.
With less than 30 seconds of fuel left, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin finally touched down on a landscape obscured by dust stirred up by the vehicle's thrusters. Future astronauts would have to be able to make precision landings at locations dictated by science. That meant they would have to touch down on landscapes filled with all kinds of rocks and craters.
For Apollo 12, the science pointed to a region known as the Ocean of Storms, some 2000 kilometers from where the Eagle had landed. Here, the landscape is dark from lava that cooled to form its flat expanse billions of years ago.
コメント (20)
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Corona virus got me watching at all types of things
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When training setbacks actually turn out to be the best thing that can ever happen for you. God that was a wonderfully cheerful and brilliant trio on that mission.
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When I get out of bed in the morning and put my feet on the floor, I say, "That's one small step for a man..."
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Can u imagine ! They should have kept it going, would be light years ahead in space exploration and knowledge of our universe, and perhaps made it to MARS.
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My wifes grandfather was the geologist for NASA Apollo missions that chose moon landing sites. After Apollo he went to Woods Hole Oceanography institute. He had passed years ago. I briefly saw him on a NASA documentary at mission control when the last mission declared they found orange soil.
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Pete Conrad was my favorite astronaut. He had a great sense of humor but did a very professional job. CBS News broadcaster Walter Cronkite got so angry at him for saying how it was a short one for Neil but long one for him. Referring to jumping off the ladder to the foot pad, Then stepping onto the Lunar surface. But that was classic Pete Conrad.
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These videos prove how tiny we are with respect to the Universe but still we go on fighting among ourselves.
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Although the command capsules electronics shut down for several moments as well as tracking data, the rockets auto navigation computer is located in the rocket assembly itself and wasnt affected by the lightning strike. So the rocket thankfully flew perfectly despite the command capsule systems shutting down.
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In many ways being on Apollo 12 (or 14 through 17) would have been better than being on 11. The weight of expectation, the immensity of the achievement and the public responsibility placed a burden on the Apollo 11 crew, especially Neil, that I can barely imagine. Pete, Dick and Al would have been laser focused on their mission between July and November, with a fraction of the attention and expectation on their shoulders.
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My Father always kept saying "see, if they had long hairs they wouldn't even be able to wear their helmet!"
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In 2007 I had the honour of meeting Alan Bean. Lovely man and sadly missed.
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A spectacular visual thoroughly presented .Thanks And welldone. I salute all of you.
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Can't we just go back to the moon every 10 years or so, just to spark space interest every now and then for people? We need it now more than ever
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Apollo 12 had more bad luck with cameras than any three people in history -- but what a great success their mission was! Finding surveyor and bring back all the samples. Here's to Pete, Alan and Richard!
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At 3:00 in this video: The flight controller was John Aaron and he said “set SCE to AUX” it was NOT an auxiliary power system as the narrator said, but Signal Conditioning Equipment (SCE) switch which allowed the telemetry to flow and let them troubleshoot and restore everything once in orbit.
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Wow !!! Now I want to learn about this topic more and interested also upload some more videos about this. 👍🏻👍🏻🌜
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Every astronaut who took off from this planet was a hero.No other word is suitable for appreciating the sheer courage it took to face the unknown dangers.
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What I had found out was that a technician assembling the surveyor probe had sneezed and the bacteria got on the part which actually survived the time on the moon.
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This quarintaine makes me to listen this vedios and universe was amazing and I not even blink my eye's when I am listening to this and I felt in love with this universe and there are many things to know 🙂☺️
