Apollo 12: The Next Step after the Giant Leap

[SQUAD]

Kerbonauts, are you up to the challenge to replicate the Apollo 12 mission in KSP? 

If so, what advice would you give those just getting started, so that they're able to successfully replicate the mission in-game?

Be sure to post any in-game video or screenshots of your Apollo 12 style EVA’s, launches, landings or shots of your work in the VAB! We want to share it with the community at large!

In the meantime we have a fun article to share...

Take a look at this amazing article NASA posted today:

nasa:

Launched less than four months after Apollo 11 put the first astronauts on the Moon, Apollo 12 was more than a simple encore. After being struck by lightning on launch – to no lasting damage, fortunately – Apollo 12 headed for a rendezvous with a spacecraft that was already on the Moon. The mission would expand the techniques used to explore the Moon and show the coordination between robotic and human exploration, both of which continue today as we get return to return astronauts to the Moon by 2024. 

Launch Day

Apollo 12 lifted off at 11:22 a.m. EST, Nov. 14, 1969, from our Kennedy Space Center. Aboard the Apollo 12 spacecraft were astronauts Charles Conrad Jr., commander; Richard F. Gordon Jr., command module pilot; and Alan L. Bean, lunar module pilot.

Barely 40 seconds after liftoff, lightning struck the spacecraft. Conrad alerted Houston that the crew had lost telemetry and other data from the mission computers. As the Saturn V engines continued to push the capsule to orbit, ground controllers worked out a solution, restarting some electrical systems, and Apollo 12 headed toward the Moon.

Cameras at the Kennedy Space Center captured this image of the same lightning bolt that struck Apollo 12 striking the mobile platform used for the launch.

On the Moon

Apollo 12 landed on the Moon on Nov. 19, and on the second moonwalk Conrad and Bean walked approximately 200 yards to the Surveyor 3 spacecraft. One of seven Surveyor spacecraft sent to land on the Moon and to gather data on the best way to land humans there, Surveyor 3 had been on the Moon for more than two years, exposed to cosmic radiation and the vacuum of space. Scientists on the ground wanted to recover parts of the spacecraft to see what effects the environment had had on it.

Apollo 12 commander Pete Conrad examines the Surveyor 3 spacecraft before removing its camera and other pieces for return to Earth. In the background is the lunar module that landed Conrad and lunar module pilot Alan Bean on the Moon.

Splashdown

Apollo 12 splashed down on Nov. 24. When Artemis returns astronauts to the Moon in 2024, it will be building on Apollo 12 as much as any of the other missions. Just as Apollo 12 had to maneuver off the standard “free return” trajectory to reach its landing site near Surveyor, Artemis missions will take advantage of the Gateway to visit a variety of lunar locations. The complementary work of Surveyor and Apollo – a robotic mission preparing the way for a crewed mission; that crewed mission going back to the robotic mission to learn more from it – prefigures how Artemis will take advantage of commercial lunar landers and other programs to make lunar exploration sustainable over the long term.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

 

[EchoLima]

"Whoopie! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me." - Pete Conrad

[schwank]

Here is my SIVB Separation.  I've been working on this, it's tricky to get the bottom looking accurate.

https://imgur.com/FlYFmbm

[Fierce Wolf]

Where did that lightning strike came from? The engine had something to do with it?

[DunaManiac]

36 minutes ago, Fierce Wolf said:

Where did that lightning strike came from? The engine had something to do with it?

Apollo 12 was launched during a rainy overcast day, and the lightning that struck it was caused by the spacecraft itself, specifically the ionized rocket exhaust coming from the rocket. So to answer your question, yes the engine did have something to do it.

[KSK]

I think Apollo 12 was possibly my favourite of the Apollo flights, although that may be coloured by the accounts I've read.

It had a bit of everything, nail-biting drama on launch, pioneering the pin-point landings that would be needed for the later missions and real camaraderie between the crew. Chaikin's A Man on the Moon made it sound like three buddies going on the ultimate road trip and, whilst that may be a wee bit rose-tinted, I still liked the part where Bean got to fly the LM into lunar orbit. As Conrad said at the time: 'what are they going to do about it - they can't even hear us from here!'

 

[έķ νίĻĻάίή]

On 11/15/2019 at 2:32 AM, SQUAD said:

Something

Edited November 26, 2019 by έķ νίĻĻάίή

[Idleness]

12 hours ago, έķ νίĻĻάίή said:

Remember China? They boast that they’ve done tests and will land on the DARK SIDE of the moon... by 2020? They don’t even have that much of a space program, and they want to land on the dark side!

With respect, saying China "don't even have that much of a space program" is not accurate.  They have contended or led in number of launches for the last few years.  They have accomplished a lot independently.  Take a look at this.

[Wallygator]

8 hours ago, Idleness said:

With respect, saying China "don't even have that much of a space program" is not accurate.  They have contended or led in number of launches for the last few years.  They have accomplished a lot independently.  Take a look at this.

Whereas China seems now to be the current "non-western one-to-watch" (and best of luck to them), it's actually sad that the entire near-space exploration phase of human history seems to be in a continuous devolution into a forced competition.  One hopes that there is a future where the human species can sustain a collaborative and diverse expansion of near-space presence and ultimately a common species-driven movement out to the wider solar system.

But human/corporate behaviour/history indicates otherwise.  It will require the thing we will never achieve - an effective world government and inclusive economy - guess we won't get there anytime soon (OK, back to my Sci-fi fantasies...)

[Vanamonde]

Let's not get into arguing the relatively merits and moralities of varying nations, guys. That never ends well. 

[kspnerd122]

whelp i recorded my apollo 12 replica but then it got corrupted

[Space_Coyote]

The 3rd Most famous line in the Apollow Program was in fact on Apollow 12..

The first of course was "The one small step for man " line With Apollo 11

The 2nd was "Houston, we have a problem." With Apollo 13

But perhaps the line form this one was

"Flight, ECON, tell them to take the SEC To Aux"

It's this one line uttered by ECON controller John Aaron that took thie from  an Apollo 13 style event to an Apollo 11 style event..

Even Pete Contrad laughed his way to orbit on this one.

 

Space_Coyote

[Commander Zoom]

Oh hey, this thread again.

A friend of mine likes to say that while 11 was Serious Men Doing Serious Things, 12 was Al, Pete and Dick Go Campin' on the Moon.

[Vanamonde]

A few posts have been removed. Keep it on-topic, please. 

[Geonovast]

Some more off topic content has been removed.

Typos happen, guys. We don't need to be getting at each other over it.  Please keep it civil.

[Wallygator]

On 2/27/2020 at 4:10 AM, Commander Zoom said:

Oh hey, this thread again.

A friend of mine likes to say that while 11 was Serious Men Doing Serious Things, 12 was Al, Pete and Dick Go Campin' on the Moon.

In my opinion your friend appears to be a bit narrow minded.  The 12 crew and mission teams proved the pinpoint landing capability of the Apollo system, and allowed us to retrieve (at that time) relatively long duration equipment from the lunar environment.

If by "camping" we mean that the 12 mission demonstrated that it was then relatively easy to put men on the moon and let them operate in a relatively stress-free setting and also return safely, then sure... "campin'" is a great word.

In my opinion, we should strive to never appreciate people or messaging that purposely minimises the efforts of any person or crew that chooses to be blasted off the surface of this planet. All crews from all countries take great risk to their lives and families when they volunteer for these missions.

Edited March 3, 2020 by Wallygator
mistyped 20 instead of 12. 20? if only!!!!

[Commander Zoom]

I doubt that my friend, who is at least as much of a spaceflight buff as me, was trying to minimize anything - merely commenting on the observed difference in tone and demeanor between the two (IMO) equally and exceptionally competent crews.

Based on this post, I find it somewhat surprising that you enjoy a game which presents the endeavor of spaceflight in such a broadly comic fashion as KSP.

[Wallygator]

18 hours ago, Commander Zoom said:

I doubt that my friend, who is at least as much of a spaceflight buff as me, was trying to minimize anything - merely commenting on the observed difference in tone and demeanor between the two (IMO) equally and exceptionally competent crews.

Based on this post, I find it somewhat surprising that you enjoy a game which presents the endeavor of spaceflight in such a broadly comic fashion as KSP.

I kindly request...  we can avoid devolving this into a "failure to communicate" response thread.  This specific response is intended to short-cut that.

So, I will do my responsible part to clarify and expand so as to eliminate any doubt... and do so in a respective manner.

I trust that neither of us (nor your friend) is trying to minimise anything - if we are like-minded folks, we are more than likely trying (or should be trying) to maximise...

So, in all seriousness, when you say...

On 3/1/2020 at 9:37 AM, Wallygator said:

A friend of mine likes to say that while 11 was Serious Men Doing Serious Things, 12 was Al, Pete and Dick Go Campin' on the Moon.

I only know "your friend" based on what you typed.... Also you didn't clearly indicate in your original comment that it was regarding "tone and demeanor" as you reference (quoted) further above. However, I accept your clarification in retrospect - and do so without qualification.

18 hours ago, Commander Zoom said:

Based on this post, I find it somewhat surprising that you enjoy a game which presents the endeavor of spaceflight in such a broadly comic fashion as KSP.

This comment I find actually quite out of character for a fellow KSP enthusiast.  We all enjoy this game.  It's a game.  It's not history. It is a leisure pursuit. Something we all enjoy in its' own space (sic).  I find it confusing that someone who enjoys a game would infer onto a fellow enthusiast such a broad characterisation. 

KSP is not broadly comic in my opinion - It's not a comic representation of physics. It's not a comic representation of the quest for extra-planetary exploration.

(and frankly, we would need to previously agree a definition of "comic", but lets just keep going...)

Sure, it uses "comic" themes to create a more accessible gateway for a wider community of players to engage, but it's not comic in the generally accurate representation of the actual challenges of planning and executing space missions (even in a simplified solar system equivalent).

KSP does not force a player to  misunderstand and fail to appreciate factual history. Games may be "based" on history, but they are not history.  I expect you already know this - I only state it as a clarification for others who are reading this thread so they do not assume we are arguing this concept.

>>> My soapbox moment (and definitely not a criticism of your post): A thread in a forum about a game about a real life event should never be construed as a failure to understand a real life event.

MODERATORS: There is nothing about this response that is intended to be aggressive or disquieting.  I hope it shows a constructive way to express differences.

TL;DR - Apollo 12 was cool.

 

 

[Death Engineering]

What is:

"SCE to AUX.. what the hell is that?" - Pete Conrad

Answer:

Something you don't want to hear with 5 F1 rocket engines blustering underneath you.

[Curveball Anders]

2 hours ago, Death Engineering said:

What is:

"SCE to AUX.. what the hell is that?" - Pete Conrad

Answer:

Something you don't want to hear with 5 F1 rocket engines blustering underneath you.

Or possible exact what you want to hear when you're riding a candle and just lost telemetry.

[StrandedonEarth]

3 hours ago, Curveball Anders said:

Or possible exact what you want to hear when you're riding a candle and just lost telemetry.

Candle?!? Mercury-Redstone was a candle. Saturn V was a quintet of blowtorches

[Vanamonde]

Keep it on-topic, please. Some comments have been removed. 

[KerballingSmasher]

On 3/3/2020 at 2:33 PM, StrandedonEarth said:

Candle?!? Mercury-Redstone was a candle. Saturn V was a quintet of blowtorches

Or arc... welding things... I don't remember what they're called.

[juniorss828]

Quote

 

Here is my SIVB Separation.  I've been working on this, it's tricky to get the bottom looking accurate.

https://imgur.com/FlYFmbm

 

 

 

Great job, buddy.

 

[pmborg]

Hello!

Actually I am also doing this challenge:

- I am using real solar system and some mods to make it more realistic and also with Life Support.

and I am also trying to do it with my KOS old code, I mean 1year-old, from when I was doing all missions automatically with user menus.

(need to review the code and test all steps again until splash down)

 

- The My Apollo11-v3 have 2 computers one in CMS and another in Lunar Module, the code is the same, but the code when restart understand like a state machine where it is and what need to be done.

I have 2900t and should have 2800, but besides that all seams to be operational, this diff. is due fuel used in real mission and here on KSP.

 

I think that can be converted easily in to a Apollo12 Challenge!

 

Some photos of the current work in progress:

 

This version of the rocket have more delta-v that the real one, but I am still tweaking it.

Cheers!