APOLLO 12 STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

From the Discovery Channel series "Rocket Science": Alan Bean describes the lightning strike that knocked out power on the second lunar landing mission shortly after launch. (Full series available at www.foolishearthling.com)

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Space
• APOLLO
• NASA
• Alan Bean
• Pete Conrad
• lightning strike
• reboot
• Space Race
• hero
• adventure
• Apollo Program
• Lightning Strike
• Storm
• Thunder

[1MtnBoy]

SCE to AUX, my new motto for lateral thinking !

no disrespect to Sy he is an admirable man to be sure but it was senior EECOM John Aaron, who made this call. same guy who took charge of saving the CM and LEM batteries on Apollo 13 !. "you sir are a steely eyed missile man" was a mission control nick name given to him after Apollo 13.

thanks so much for posting this !

[sciencehighway]

@1MtnBoy Thanks for augmenting. When we did this series the originating network was experiencing a (no-doubt temporary) fixation on simplified storytelling, chopping bits of narrative seemingly at random prior to air. eg: they also cut the explanation (and our accompanying animation) that the lightning actually rode the Saturn's ionized exhaust down to ground itself on the launch tower. It pleases me no end to see the community restore all those amazing details to these clips. Thank you.

[shananagans5]

It's amazing how many close calls were taken care of in the Apollo program by the exceptional men that made it all happen.

[sunnymusicnj]

@sunnymusicnj : when it was determined that this was the situation, they just went to the filing cabinet, then tested his method and found that it worked. his name is on the wall of honor at the national air and space museum: robert h. anderson

[ENCO12357]

Made In The U.S.A.

[1MtnBoy]

@sciencehighway You are welcome ! it is still AWESOME, thanks for posting.