La foudre frappe Apollo 12
Video from the channel Sciences Tube about Apollo 12, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 2:02. Language: French. Video type: Documentary.
Brief documentary excerpt about the launch of Apollo 12, a mission commanded by Pete Conrad together with Alan Bean and Dick Gordon, command module pilot, bound for the Ocean of Storms, near the site where the unmanned Surveyor 3 probe had landed.
After the audience success of Apollo 11, NASA had improved its television coverage. Liftoff took place under heavy rain, which did not stop the Saturn V from flying.
Shortly after launch, a lightning bolt strikes the vehicle and travels down the ionized air trail to the umbilical tower. The command module's instruments fail and telemetry becomes incoherent. The crew is ordered to flip a little-known reset switch identified by Alan Bean; the instruments recover and the mission continues toward the Moon.