Apollo 12 Transcript, 1969

This NASA document is part of the air-to-ground voice transcript of the Apollo 12 mission in 1969, covering tapes 90 and 93. It records routine exchanges between Houston and the crews of the command module Yankee Clipper and the lunar module Intrepid about state vector uplinks, lift-off time, battery charging and rendezvous tracking. One crew member reports flashes of light and particles that appear to stream away from the Moon. Houston attributes a pulsing AGS display to probable electromagnetic interference, and the crew concludes that the LM tracking light has burned out.

From the source: Release of 2026-05-08 Incident: 1969, Moon. Apollo 12 was the fourth crewed U.S. mission to the Moon and the second to land astronauts on the lunar surface. This document is an excerpt from the Apollo 12 Technical Air-to-Ground Voice Transcription, November 1969, highlighting two periods in which astronauts reported observing unidentified phenomenon: a one hour period on the fifth day, and a two minute period on the sixth day. These transcripts contain contemporaneous observations by the flight crew reacting to unidentified phenomenon. • Day 05, Hour 19, Minute 14, Second 58 through Day 05, Hour 20, Minute 12, Second 14: o At 05:19:27:25, the pilot of the Lunar Module (LMP-LM), Astronaut Alan L. Bean, described observing particles and flashes of light “sailing off in space” via the onboard Alignment Optical Telescope (AOT). He characterized these phenomenon as “escaping the Moon.” • Day 06, Hour 00, Minute 21, Second 42 through Day 06, Hour 00, Minute 23, Second 33: o Mission Commander, Charles “Pete” Conrad, described observing floating debris outside the lunar module, which had been illuminated by the module’s onboard tracking light. At 06:00:21:51, Conrad assessed that the tracking light had burnt out because he could no longer see the debris from the module.

05 19 14 58
05 19 16 31
05 19 16 35
05 19 16 37
05 19 16 45
05 19 20 05
05 19 20 09
05 19 20 14
05 19 20 22
05 19 20 27
05 19 20 31
05 19 20 36
05 19 20 53
05 19 20 59
05 19 21 10
05 19 21 20
05 19 23 14
05 19 23 20
05 19 23 39
05 19 23 52
05 19 23 57
05 19 24 05
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Tape 90/3
Page 742
That's affirmntive . We're ready for the E-M0D.
Intrepid, Houston.
Go.
If you will give us P0O and ACCEFT, we'll give
you a CSM state vector and RLS update.
You have POD and ACCEPT.
Hello, Houston; Yankee Clipper.
Yankee Clipper, Houston. Loud and clear.
Well, hello there, stranger. How are you?
Morning, Dick. We are fine. How are you?
Well, pretty good. I hope you would like to have
some company for a change.
Roger. Got the house clean?
As a matter of fact, I just finished that. I
sure do; got everything in order; ready to go
towards the LM and bring back . . . That's quite
a chore; keeping this thing clean.
Roger. You got a couple of coal miners coming
up to see you.
That's oka,y. I'll be glad to see them.
Intrepid, Houston. The computer is yours.
Break. Yankee Clipper, if you will go POO and
ACCEPT, we have an uplink.
All yours.
Houston, you got the lift-off time for me?
Stand by.
Intrepid, Houston. Your lift-off time is
142:03:47.
I copy 142:03:47.00,
Affirma.ti ve.
Clipper, Houston. Computer's yours.