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Apollo 12

 Apollo 12 panorama

Charles "Pete" Conrad and Alan Bean executed a near-pinpoint landing, touching down just 600 feet from their target, Surveyor 3, an unmanned probe launched in 1967. Alan Bean can be seen next to the Intrepid Lunar Module, unloading geological tools and other gear. Next to him stands a large S-band antenna used for communications with Earth. Conrad's shadow almost touches the American flag, which was stiffened with wire to hold it up in the moon's airless environment. The color TV camera (seen standing by itself) would have sent the first color images of moonwalkers back to Earth, but Bean accidentally pointed the camera at the Sun while carrying it, rendering it useless.


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 Photography courtesy of U.S.Geological Survey Astrogeology Program

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