Launch of Apollo 12 Saturn V and lightning strike on rocket, original NBC TV
Video from the channel Matthew Travis about Apollo 12, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 8:00. Language: English. Video type: Launch.
The mission
Original NBC network coverage of the launch of Apollo 12 atop a Saturn V, with the crew made up of Pete Conrad, Alan Bean and Richard Gordon. The video combines the network's narration with the communications between the spacecraft and mission control in Houston.
Sequence
The countdown is followed from the launch control room: the third stage tanks are pressurized, Bean connects the re-entry batteries, the rocket switches to internal power and the ignition sequence starts. Liftoff occurs at 11:22 Eastern Standard Time. Shortly after, Conrad reports that the guidance platform and much of the electrical systems have been lost: the fuel cells disconnect, overloads appear on the AC buses and the main buses go down. Houston asks them to switch the SCE to auxiliary and later to reset the fuel cells. After second-stage separation and launch escape tower jettison, the crew confirms that all buses are working again and jokes that more testing is needed in bad weather, since they suspect being struck by lightning while passing through rain clouds.
Outcome
The rocket continues on its nominal trajectory. The only outstanding fault is the inertial platform, which has drifted and will need to be realigned once in orbit.