Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!uunet!world!ksr!clj@ksr.com From: clj@ksr.com (Chris Jones) Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle Subject: Re: Lost Apollo 12? Message-ID: <794@ksr.com> Date: 7 Sep 90 14:27:09 GMT References: Sender: news@ksr.com Reply-To: clj@ksr.com (Chris Jones) Distribution: sci.space.shuttle Organization: Kendall Square Research Corp Lines: 25 In-reply-to: arnaud@schizo.imposter.samsung.com (Alain Arnaud) In article , arnaud@schizo (Alain Arnaud) writes: > James Beggs, former NASA > administrator > said that they almost > lost Apollo 12, > What did he mean by almost lost Apollo 12, I don't seem to remember > any incident related to that flight. Apollo 12 was launched into a thunderstorm, and the Saturn V caused a lightning discharge (maybe two) to hit the stack. Almost all of the CSM's power was knocked for a loop, and only the quick thinking of a mission controller, who had seen similar data in one of the simulations and realized how to reset the system, allowed the flight to continue without aborting. Even so, pretty much everyone thought that continuing to the moon was out of the question. When they got to earth orbit and couldn't find anything wrong, however, they decided to go on. There was an amusing vignette on the four part PBS series (called "Space Flight", I think) aired about five years ago. Apollo 12 had an all-navy crew, with Pete Conrad as its commander. As they were trying to decide whether or not to launch into the clouds, Conrad radioed "Sure, the Navy is always willing to do your all weather testing for you." As he recalled to the interviewer "I had immediate cause to regret that statement." -- Chris Jones clj@ksr.com {world,uunet,harvard}!ksr!clj