Apollo 12 - On the Ocean of Storms (Springer Praxis Books)

With its two moonwalks, deployment of a geophysical station and geological sampling, Apollo 12 did what many had hoped would be achieved by the first men to land on the Moon. It spectacularly demonstrated the precision landing capability required for the success of future lunar surface explorations. Apollo 12 - On the Ocean of Storms contains over 30 page of color images, including high-resolution scans recently produced by NASA from the original Hasselblad film; covers the mission from its planning through to completion; includes conversations among the crew in the spacecraft that were not transmitted; in the definitive 'popular' account of this mission. This is the first time in 40 years that the story of the Apollo 12 mission to the Moon has bene told in its entirety, using official documents, flight transcripts, and post-mission debriefing to recreate the drama. In July 1969 the ‘amiable strangers’ that made up the crew of the historic Apollo 11 flight successfully achieved the first manned lunar landing. Several months later, three close friends set off on an even more challenging mission. Free of the burden of making history, the Apollo 12 astronauts were determined to really enjoy their experience while taking care of business. This is the story of their mission, told largely in their own words. Their exploits and accomplishments showed how conservative the inaugural mission had been. With its two moonwalks, deployment of the first geophysical station on the Moon, and geological sampling, Apollo 12 did what many had hoped would be achieved by the first men to land on the Moon. The Apollo 12 mission also spectacularly demonstrated the precision landing capability required for success in future lunar surface explorations. In addition to official documents, published prior to and after the mission, APOLLO 12 – ON THE OCEAN OF STORMS draws on the flight transcript and post-mission debriefing to recreate the drama. With its two moonwalks, deployment of a geophysical station and geological sampling, Apollo 12 did what many had hoped would be achieved by the first man to land on the Moon. It demonstrated the precision landing capability required for the success of future lunar surface explorations. This is the first time in 40 years that the story of the Apollo 12 mission to the Moon has been told in its entirely, using official documents, flight transcripts, and post-mission debriefing to recreate the drama. --Book cover Front Matter....Pages i-xix Planning and preparations....Pages 1-77 Moonbound....Pages 79-225 A visit to the Snowman....Pages 227-401 The voyage home....Pages 403-511 Back Matter....Pages 513-522