Launch: 11/14/69, 11:22 a.m EST
Landing (Moon): 11/19/69
Lunar Location: Ocean of Storms
Landing (Earth): 11/24/69, 3:58 p.m. EST
Duration: 10 days, 4 hrs, 36 min
Orbits (Moon): 45 (3 days, 17 hrs, 2 min)
Surface time: 1 day, 7 hrs, 31 min

The primary objectives of Apollo 12 were:
  1. To prove a pinpoint landing was possible, (Apollo 11 had landed 4 miles from their intended target, and geologists needed a pinpoint landing for detailed studies of specific areas)
  2. To set up an autonomous scientific station called "The Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package" (ALSEP). This consisted of a seismometer to measure moonquakes, a magnetometer to look for a lunar magnetic field, a sensor to sniff out the moon's tenuous atmosphere and another sensor to search for ions and analyze high-energy subatomic particles
  3. To visit the Surveyor III spacecraft and return pieces of the probe for study.
November 14th, 1969, the day of Apollo 12's launch, it was cold, cloudy and wet. Despite the light rain showers and overcast skies, a large crowd was on hand to witness the launch, including President and Mrs. Nixon, marking the first and only appearance of an incumbent chief executive to witness an Apollo launch.

As the cold rain drenched the spectators, Commander Pete Conrad noticed water leaking between the boost protective cover and the spacecraft. He later recalled, "I could see water on my two windows, Window 1 and 2. We experienced varying amounts passing across these windows, dependent on how heavily it was raining." The Apollo spacecraft was designed to be launched during rain, and as a Captain in the Navy, Pete Conrad had said that he was ready to do NASA's "all weather" testing. It didn't take long after launch for him to almost regret those thoughts.

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