Apollo 12 - SCE to AUX (Full Mission 01)
Video from the channel lunarmodule5 about Apollo 12, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 1:30:18. Language: English. Video type: Archive footage.
What it shows
The video plays the original countdown and ascent audio of Apollo 12. Mostly heard is the Kennedy launch control public affairs commentator, who narrates the final hours before liftoff. His account follows the preparation of the crew made up of Conrad, Gordon and Bean. Tom Stafford woke them at 6:05, after which they passed the medical exam given by Dr. Allan C. Harter and had breakfast with several guests, including Stafford, Jim Irwin, Jim McDivitt and Paul Weitz. At 8:10 they left for the spacecraft. Before their arrival, Alfred Worden, backup command module pilot, had prepared the cabin. Conrad entered at 8:33 and Gordon at 8:46, and the hatch was closed around 9:05. Next came the emergency detection system test, cabin purge, Q-ball calibration and the guidance and control checks. The lunar module Intrepid was powered up at T-30 min. From T-3 min 10 s the sequence became automatic, and ignition came at 8.9 s before liftoff.
When and where it was filmed
The recording corresponds to the countdown at Pad 39A, run from Firing Room 2. There was a planned one-hour hold, from 6:52 to 7:52 EST, and liftoff occurred at 11:22 EST. Period audio is paired with photographs and some re-created sequences used as illustration.
Context
Weather complicated the day. A front coming from the northwest brought rain earlier than expected, and even so the count continued. At T-14 min a go was given with a ceiling of about 23,000 feet and very little turbulence. President Nixon arrived on Air Force One at Patrick Air Force Base and transferred by helicopter to Kennedy. During the ascent the inertial platform was lost and the fuel cell and AC bus overload alarms triggered. Houston then called for the SCE to be switched to auxiliary, and with that the data returned. Conrad suspected they had been struck by lightning. The crew reset the fuel cells and buses while the instrument unit kept the Saturn V on its trajectory. Once in a 102.5 by 100 orbit, the inertial platform was realigned with a P51. Conrad summed it up as a first-class trip with a rough start.