Apollo 12 was struck by lightning twice. It still reached the Moon.
Two lightning strikes disrupted Apollo 12 less than a minute after launch. A remembered test, a rarely used switch and careful checks helped the crew continue its 1969 Moon mission.
Apollo 12 had barely begun its journey to the Moon when lightning struck its Saturn V rocket twice. On November 14, 1969, the three astronauts suddenly faced electrical failures and confused instrument readings. Yet the rocket kept climbing, giving Mission Control time to work out what had happened. 1
Two strikes in the first minute
Commander Pete Conrad, command module pilot Richard Gordon and lunar module pilot Alan Bean lifted off from Florida at 11:22 a.m. EST. Their mission aimed to build on Apollo 11 with a precise landing, two moonwalks and a visit to an older robotic lander. First, they had to get through a dark, rainy launch. 1
The first lightning strike came about 36 seconds after liftoff. Spacecraft electronics were disrupted, all three fuel cells went offline, and ground controllers lost usable readings. Another strike at 52 seconds knocked out the spacecraft’s guidance and navigation system. The Saturn V’s own systems continued operating normally, so the launch vehicle stayed on course. 1
A familiar pattern and an obscure switch
At his Mission Control console, engineer John Aaron recognized the garbled data from a test he had watched about a year earlier. He traced the problem to the Signal Conditioning Equipment, or SCE, and recommended switching it from Normal to Auxiliary. 1
Flight director Gerry Griffin passed the recommendation to capsule communicator Jerry Carr, who relayed it to the crew. Bean remembered where the switch was and moved it. Within seconds, Aaron could read useful data again. That recovered information helped the team assess the spacecraft; moving the switch was a step in the recovery, not a substitute for checking the other systems. 1
Apollo 12 reached Earth orbit roughly 11½ minutes after launch. The crew and controllers then spent about two and a half hours verifying that its systems were working before approving the engine burn toward the Moon. 1
The mission beyond the storm
Conrad and Bean landed Intrepid in the Ocean of Storms on November 19, 1969, while Gordon remained in lunar orbit. 2 They completed two moonwalks, deployed scientific instruments and collected samples. At nearby Surveyor 3, they removed equipment for scientists to examine after more than two years of exposure on the Moon. 3
The three astronauts reunited and returned to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific on November 24. A mission that began with two lightning strikes had completed the second crewed lunar landing. 2
Story context and image credits
Historical account of Apollo 12, November 14–24, 1969. Lunar landing: November 19, 1969. The launch-pad photograph dates to November 14; the Surveyor 3 photograph to November 20. NASA’s retrospective reports were published in 2019 and 2024; these are not new events.
View the full photo-credit recordView the original Instagram publicationSources & notes
See something we should correct? Send a correction.
