Launched: November 14, 1969 · Landed: November 19, 1969 · Splashdown: November 24, 1969

— "I see the surveyor! I see the Surveyor!" —

Command module pilot Richard Gordon assured Pet Conrad, lunar module commander, that his landing was right on target.

Apollo 12 stands out as the first of the Moon flights to achieve a pinpoint landing. Despite a rocky start caused by pre-launch lighting strikes and swirling lunar dust that obscured the lunar surface, Apollo 12 landed within 600 feet of its target, the Surveyor III probe, which had reached the Moon 31 months earlier. Now the astronauts could return parts of the probe to Earth for study of the long-term effects of exposure to the lunar environment. And being able to land in rugged terrain- the kind of site likely to offer the best scientific study - was vitally important for future missions. The astronauts explored the Moon for seven hours and 45 minutes, indicating that humans were capable of much more lunar activity than first thought. Though television broadcasts ended when Alan Bean inadvertently pointed the camera at the sun, Apollo 12 returned a wealth of lunar surface photos along with lunar rocks, soil - and pieces of Surveyor.

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Saturn V

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