What Happened on Board when Apollo 12 was Struck by Lightning

REBOOT! The Museum of Flight in Seattle asked to include my old video on this in their new Apollo exhibit, and when I looked at it I decided it was too embarrassing. So I redid the video, and added onboard audio! And am happy with the outcome so decided to take the old one down and put this one up instead. Enjoy!
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[@jgriffin7]

I have a 'Keep Calm and Set SCE to AUX' t-shirt. Ones of my faves.

[@pleasestaysafe2787]

Jeff Griffin Well then my friend, you have the greatest t-shirt in the world. I was unaware that they made them.

[@briano8329]

we need the source for these !!!!

[@jgriffin7]

I believe I got mine here. Many different colors to choose from: www.redbubble.com/people/saschagrant/works/10841325-keep-calm-and-sce-to-aux?p=t-shirt&style=mens&body_color=baby_blue&print_location=front

[@PracticeNine]

haha, i bet they'll get a peak in sales over the next few days :D

[@unmatort]

404 "Set" not found

[@michaeltuz608]

John Aaron's nerd heroics that saved Apollo XII is one of my favorite stories from the Apollo Era. Proof positive that the guys in the trenches were heroes, too.

[@hazelanderson1479]

He also helped to get the astronauts on board Apollo 13 back home safely too by managing the limited power supply. That man is definitely worth his weight in gold!

[@Shadow1776]

Amazing team work; John Aaron for the SCE to Aux call, Al Bean for knowing the switch location, and Pete Conrad for keeping cool and avoiding an abort.

[@stridermt2k]

Not only do I thank you for the historical tidbit, but especially for playing the audio of them working the problem. it is a testament to the training these men received that they could handle an anomaly like that and joke about it later.

[@rachaeltyrell9851]

let's face it, REAL astronauts have a military career before they become astronauts (or cosmonauts)!

[@stridermt2k]

No. They are merely trained for the job.

[@doggonemess1]

In the MILITARY! Just kidding. :)

[@stridermt2k]

LOL!

[@bozo5632]

It's test pilots most especially, and pilots in general. Civilian test pilots are equally steely-eyed. Not to diminish the military, but to give due credit to pilots.

[@swbusby]

My hat is off to John Aaron. He recognized the problem and the solution in crisis.

[@Angus_Gibson]

The ORIGINAL Steely-Eyed Missile Man!

[@joemckim1183]

Aaron also played a huge role on Apollo 13 in being able to power back up the Command Module on limited power.

[@joemckim1183]

@willl 88 Played by Loren Dean in Apollo 13 movie.

[@hazelanderson1479]

John Aaron’s expansive knowledge of the electrical systems helped bring the crew of Apollo 13 back home safely, too. Gene Kranz was quick to hand responsibility for managing the meagre power left in the craft to John Aaron. Without his expertise, the outcome may have been very different indeed.

[@F-Man]

"SCE to AUX." That is THE quote of the Apollo Program - forget that "small step" nonsense :P

[@JohnG-qu7hz]

it does not compare! u r dum

[@apolli_xi]

"What the hell is SCE?" -PC, Mission Commander

[@johncronin9540]

Ferrariman601 I also liked Pete’s first line on the lunar surface: “Well, that may have been a short step for Neil, but it’s a long one for me”. He and Alan Bean really would have given the conspiracy lunatics something to chew on had they managed to find a timer they smuggled aboard. It was to be attached to a camera, with the two astronauts standing together, leaving people to wonder,”Who took the photo?” Unfortunately, their schedule was so tight that they had to give up; they couldn’t find the timer. Would have been a great photo. Their backup crew also played a prank on Pete and Al. One of the jobs of the backup crew was to prepare the EVA checklists, which were essentially strapped to the forearm of the space suit. They decided to add something extra - a series of centerfolds and pin up shots, between pages of the checklist. In the audio of that EVA, you can hear Pete and Al laughing away at the photos. Needless to say, they couldn’t exactly transmit to Earth what had happened, but they enjoyed a good laugh.

[@ilovebeinagirl]

Man, don't hate on the "one small step". That was legendary, but yes SCE to AUX is a close second.

[@tincanspaceman]

SCE to Aux is my favorite Apollo story. When I went to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL a few years ago, they had this model of the capsule with moveable switches and such that I climbed in and worked my way to where Bean's seat in the module would be and located the switch. I switched it to Aux and giggled about it for a bit.

[@rogertrooman7918]

Lmao 😆

[@MarsFKA]

Well done, that fan. I think every Apollo geek now knows where the SCE switch is located.

[@MrWATM]

Great video as always! ...my favorite part is where Pete Conrad says incredulously, "SCE to AUX? What the hell is that??" Always good to start the week with your videos. Keep up the good work!

[@Kaga184]

Pete said"FCE to AUX?What the hell is that?"

[@stargazer7644]

When the 3 fuel cells dropped off, the only thing left were the batteries. The batteries couldn't carry the full spacecraft load, so the voltage sagged on the power buses to the point that equipment started malfunctioning, including the sce. Switching sce to aux switched it from the normal power bus which was in a low voltage condition to its backup battery where it was able to resume normal operations. Once the first fuel cell was reset a few seconds later, that would have fixed the problem as well. Apparently none of this turned out to be that big of a deal, because none of the CM systems are really used for a nominal ascent to orbit, which they had. An abort would probably have been fatal if attitude control was needed.

[@logandarklighter]

Full credit to the designers of the guidance package in the forward end of the Saturn S-IVB stage - THAT was what was keeping things pointed in the right direction while the Apollo systems were knocked out. It got hit by lightning too and didn't miss a beat!

[@disorganizedorg]

I really want a bumper sticker that reads "SCE to AUX"

[@whereareyourparents2948]

Rich Marceau there's a shirt that reads " Keep calm and set SCE to AUX "

[@stargazer7644]

Rich Marceau try cafepress

[@hazelanderson1479]

Make one yourself.

[@kokonana4086]

Hats off to "the Steely Eyed Missile Man" John Aaron for saving the entire mission. What an engineer!

[@johnpickens448]

I was 12 when Apollo 12 launched. Before that, I had watched just about every hour of TV coverage of the Gemini and Apollo missions. When Old Pete stepped off the LEM footpad and said "Whoopie! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me." I became a lifelong Pete fan. My wife bought me a signed Pete Conrad model CSM/LEM which I treasure. When he passed a few years ago, I drank a toast to him and shed a few tears.

[@bfhservicesltd8713]

This was my favorite Apollo crew. They seemed to be good mates and struck the perfect balance between being professionals and Larrikins at the same time. I would like to hear more about the time Pete allowed Al Bean fly the LM while in orbit?

[@stevemixon2718]

The Tom Hanks HBO series "From the Earth to the Moon" has a very good episode about Apollo 12 including the lightning strike and Al Bean flying the LM.

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

Steve Mixon But not all HBO reenactments are accurate.

[@tybo09]

What happened? The steely-eyed missile man saved the mission. :)

[@lorrinbarth1969]

Before retirement, I was a Power Dispatcher in the electrical utility industry. John Aaron has always been my hero.

[@leftcoaster67]

The Apollo 12 Cuff Checklist is hilarious. "Don't forget to describe the protuberances..." With a photocopy of a playmate on the page....

[@StephenCole1916]

Further proof that flight controller John Aaron was a "steely-eyed missile man"

[@Rod_Knee]

"Pete Conrad should have played Pete Conrad in a Pete Conrad Movie" ~ Michael Collins.

[@anridapu]

Rod Bowler Great quote! 😆👌

[@macsenplays]

It's not too late to get Paul McCrane again.

[@GGE47]

This was a very shocking experience.

[@naterosen9786]

I’m so glad they sent a clown into space, whoopee.

[@jakobole]

I have a music-studio, and had a client over. Found out he was a space-nerd. We had a technical glitch in the studio, I fixed it and said "I put SCE to Aux", and when he laughed out loud, I knew we were on the same page :)

[@AZspaceGUY]

When I interviewed Alan Bean, I asked him what their state of dress was when they transferred back to the CM after returning from the moon's surface. Awesome story!!!

[@FairwayPD]

I have seen probably every Vintage Space produced. I go back and rewatch them every so often and always pick up something new.

[@Karpuffelstein]

Half of the legendary lines of the Apollo program have been spoken during this incident, I think. Anyway, this is the first time, someone explains the technical aspects of the incident in a brief, clear and understandable way, especially what the SCE to AUX switch was used for! Good job, Lady!

[@pixoariz]

Ditto on Pete Conrad. Heck of a guy overall and a favorite of a lot of us back then, too.

[@johncronin9540]

pixoariz I enjoyed his story about the selection process. During the psychological exam, he was handed a white piece of paper, and asked what he saw. Pete told them they had it upside down. He thought this bit of wit was why he wasn’t selected among the first seven astronauts. Pete also was the CDR of the first Skylab crew, and had to repair what they could of a crippled space station. One main solar panel was lost, and the other had not fully deployed. A heat shield had also torn loose, and they had to deploy a screen to cover that section of the station. Temperatures inside were well over 100 degrees.

[@logandarklighter]

​@@johncronin9540 In his biography "Rocket Man" it was said that the transcript of them working those various problems on Skylab - particularly getting the solar panel unstuck - was over half "EXPLETIVE DELETED". And that Pete wished he'd just brought a damn chain saw with him. :D

[@johncronin9540]

logandarklighter That doesn’t surprise me, given his character. It was difficult because the location they had to go to for the EVA, was not a location that had been planned for EVA. No footholds or handholds. Conrad had to physically hold onto another crew member (I think it was Joe Engel) - his arms wrapped around the bottom of the legs, in a pressure suit (where it’s virtually impossible to even bring one’s arms together - the reason why Al Shepard’s golf swing was one handed). That likely accounted for some of the language. But difficult as it was, they made the necessary repairs. Had it not worked, the Skylab Missions never would have happened.

[@randygk8856]

I just came across your videos, keep up the fine work. I had the honor of meeting Pete Conrad around 1983. I had a marine electronics store in Newport Beach, CA and we were a large Raytheon dealer for their marine products. He spoke at a National Marine Electronics Association meeting in Long Beach one evening and had one of the first Raytheon raster scan radars on his sailboat. After the meeting he took groups of 5-6 of us out on his boat for a short trip around the harbor to demonstrate the radar. I remember telling myself not to ask him stupid questions as he was very friendly and accommodating. I later installed another piece of equipment on his boat and chuckled as I noticed a piece of artwork in the cabin of an astronaut in a space suit urinating on the moon.

[@bigbaddms]

Excellent Amy, you hit it out of the park with this one. I love the captioning, the astronauts, and the drama. Good job!

[@ciphermatrix]

Brilliant stuff, love the audio snippets that shows that these dedicated professionals were far from strait-laced. Love this channel so much.

[@DJCorbin]

It is absolutely incredible to hear people with a high understanding of the systems and data being displayed in front of them and then talking through it under incredible pressure! This video is stellar(pun intended) and thank you for re-doing it! The added content is so cool with your context! Is there more like this?

[@TheMichaelBeck]

Apollo 12 was my favorite mission. Al Bean was my favorite astronaut. I once had an Ambien induced dream when I was sleeping while "A Man on the Moon" Audible book was playing where I was on the Moon, in a spacesuit, with Al Bean! If I live to be 100 I'll never forget that dream.

[@cmdrterrorfirma4244]

"have you tried turning it off and on again?"

[@knobdikker]

That's actually how they fixed the stuck radar on the Apollo 14 LEM (Intrepid?) as they were descending!

[@leftcoaster67]

"That was one hell of a SIM!" Classic Pete.

[@windmilldoc]

One evening driving home I stopped behind a car whose license read "SCE2AUX". I burst out laughing, pulled up beside them and yelled "Apollo 12 Set SCE to Aux". They loved it. And two space nerds shared a moment😅

[@rjhelms]

This is one of the most amazing stories of the Apollo program, and it's really wonderful to hear the recordings of it "as it happened." You've totally turned me into an Apollo 12 fan over the past year or so, Amy - nowadays I tell everyone who'll listen about how Apollo 12 was the best mission of the program.

[@ChristopherUSSmith]

rjhelms This would have been the most amazing story of the Apollo program if not for the next mission, and what Aaron et.al. did to bring 13 home safe.

[@davidnewton190]

Thanks Amy for all the hard work you put into doing these interesting videos.

[@oxcart4172]

Aaron got the ultimate accolade 'Steely eyed missile man!' for that!

[@trubshawuk]

Apollo 12 was brilliantly dramatised on Tom Hank's "from the earth to the moon" in the episode " "is that all there is?" based on Al Bean's book. The Apollo 12 crew seems the most fun crew that flew apollo and I'd have loved to have had a beer or 20 with them back in the day! SCE TO AUX!!!!! bring it on! Keep up the good work there with vintage space Amy, lovin' it!

[@richleonhard9527]

John Aaron to the rescue. Great video, Amy.

[@DPImageCapturing]

I love this one Amy!! I am a Hugh Apollo 12 fa also, especially after I watched "From The Earth To The Moon"! I found a t-shirt that says "Keep Calm and SCE to AUX"!

[@veanwhitcher7867]

Pete and Buzz are y favorites Buzz also had a great sense of humor and overcame tremendous personal problems. your channel is by far the most interesting and informative of all space channels in my opinion.

[@luciusvorenus9445]

Apollo 12, going to the moon with your best friends.

[@2AForever-wi8yj]

The worlds greatest ROAD TRIP

[@sdietri22]

My old foreman was stationed at Patuxent River Naval Base. He was packing parachutes. Pete Conrad was a test pilot at the time and was being kind of a jerk. One day he went to pick up his chute, and instead of a parachute in his pack he found dirty laundry. He was much nicer to those guys after that.

[@seanbaskett5506]

What a privilege it would have been to fly with a wild man like Conrad. The world's most competent goofball.

[@timheavrin2253]

This was the most entertaining of all the Apollo missions. I was 9 yrs old when Apollo 12 went up.

[@witscheman]

I knew nothing about Apollo 12 other than it happened. Then I saw the episode of "From the Earth to the Moon" about it, and from there on out, Apollo 12 has become my favorite mission. Never heard the audio from the launch before, so thanks Amy!

[@danieljbalkwill]

I JUST saw your tweet about your father’s journal entry about Apollo 12 being hit by lightning. And KZbin had this as my FIRST recommendation immediately afterwards!

[@armouredskeptic]

This was awesome

[@ln5321]

Woah, Skeptic on a Vintage Space vid?!

[@StormsandSaugeye]

You should check out From the Earth to the moon. It covers this event in more detail and also shows just how tight their relationship was on Apollo 12. It's not a far cry to say that they were guffawing all the way to the moon.

[@Angus_Gibson]

My dad and I are really into aviation and NASA, especially the moon program. One of my favorite memories as a kid was going to the Space and Rocket Center with my dad, just me and him. I was very little, and it made a huge memory for me. After your SCE to AUX video, I thought the situation was a great metaphor for how my Dad parents myself and my older sister. When my sister stresses and panics over situations, or I dwell on a mistake I've made or even talk to my dad in the midst of a heartbreak, my dad would often find the simplest solution to calm us down, give us a new way of thinking about the problem. Like Apollo 12, our minds had lost the platform, creating a disaster of telemetry. My dad would say, metaphorically, "Hey, just switch SCE to AUX," and his simple solutions would not only offer comfort, but often would give us the tools to overcome the problem. For Father's Day this year, I got him a "Try SCE to AUX" mug, and told him this story. He loves it, and now when I present him with a problem, he'll say with a smile, he'll say, "SCE to AUX." Thanks, Amy, for deepening this connection with my father. I hope to meet you some day. Regards, Taylor "Angus" Gibson

[@Seminal_Ideas]

What a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing this. I myself am a father of three children and would be honored to be regarded as highly as your dad is by you.

[@Angus_Gibson]

​@@Seminal_Ideas I don't know why I didn't see this until just now! I don't know what I did to earn a great dad, but I can tell you what I appreciate most. Even during the low parts of our relationship, I never doubted that he loved me. He constantly told me how proud of me he was, and empowered me by telling me he had faith that I could make happen anything I set my mind to. Honestly, that's the bulk of what it's taken for me to regard him as highly as I do. If you let love lead the way, I'm sure your kids will do the same! Thanks so much for the kind words!

[@cwez11]

I go visit the Apollo 12 command module frequently. It's nearby at the Hampton Air and Space museum. Apollo 12 also has the distinction of having a piece of it still active in space. The Apollo 12 third stage is in the Earth's orbit around the sun, and "laps" the Earth once every 26 years! When it does, as it did in 1986 and in 2002, it "cork-screws" around the Earth-moon system for a few months before continuing on its way.

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

The launch proceeded OK, but there was also a risk that the lightning strike had prematurely fired the parachute pyrotechnics in the Command Module. They had no way of knowing until they came back from the Moon, and tried reentry: if this damage had happened, they wouldn’t make it. This is why I think the 12 and 13 missions were so damn lucky, coming this close to complete disaster. NASA had some (comparatively) amazing good fortune with Apollo, considering only six astronauts died, and none in space. Later, with the Shuttle, that luck ran out.

[@BattleshipAgincourt]

Where did you get this info? This was stated in the HBO movie series 'From Earth to the Moon' but I don't assume details like that from dramatic recreations.

[@ChristopherUSSmith]

BattleshipAgincourt Actually, seven Apollo astronauts died in ground accidents. Group 3: C.C. Williams, Ted Freeman, Charlie Bassett, Roger Chaffee; Group 2: Elliott See, Ed White; Group 1: Gus Grissom. The first three (plus See) died in T-38 accidents, the other three in the Apollo 1 CM fire.

[@ChristopherUSSmith]

Also, one of the other flights (14?) had a faulty switch from the manufacturer that would have aborted the lunar landing had the trench not come up with a program to bypass the switch.

[@2AForever-wi8yj]

they would have made it back to the splashdown just fine. They wouldn't have lived to tell about it but they would have made it back

[@tqnohe]

I was glued to the radio when this was going on. I was in history class, not paying attention to Mr Ross. Little 12 transistor radio and an ear phone stuffed in my ear.

[@lucidmoses]

The editing you did to put the words beside the faces was outstanding. Nicely done.

[@PracticeNine]

Hey Amy, awesome video! It got me thinking, that a series on all the apollo missions would be nice. Like a brief summary and special events of each of the apollo-misisons. If you have the time, I would be really happy to see sth like that

[@AtomicAJ74]

The History Channel had a two-part special on the Apollo program years ago. It focused heavily on the men in Mission Control. They describe this event in rich detail, including explanations by John Aaron. It's fascinating to watch if you can find it (I have it on DVD). Al Bean said something like "Thank goodness for Mission Control - I didn't have any idea what to do."

[@ChristopherUSSmith]

AtomicAJ74 Yeah, it was based on Kranz's book "Failure is Not an Option".

[@Mrjonblakely]

I have heard this recording before but never knew who was saying what. Thank you for presenting it in a way that we know what was said and by whom.

[@markarellano6899]

I love Al Bean knocking himself out with a camera on re-entry. That crew sounds like the most fun to have been a part of.

[@markwoketman6808]

I worked Shuttle ET for 27 years at MAF in Louisiana. I was fortunate to meet both Buzz Aldrin and Joh Young there on different occasions. I sent Al Bean a letter in 2008 asking if I could take he and his wife to dinner and give a tour of MAF sometime when in the area. He called me one Sunday afternoon at home. I talked with the 4th human to step upon the Moon for 30 to 40 minutes. He was perhaps the nicest person I have ever known, really. RIP Al. They don't make people like you, Pete and Dick anymore.....

[@thejohnkauman]

I too list Pete Conrad and Apollo 12 as my favorite (in spite of the fact that the darn TV camera broke early during the lunar EVA). When I was 9 or 10 years old, I got to ask Pete Conrad a question at a public appearance. I'd worked up the courage to go up to the microphone, when everybody was doing variations on the "what's it like to walk on the moon" question. And I was being ignored until Pete Conrad acknowledged me and I asked "when you are on the moon, how do you separate the two stages of the LEM?" Suddenly, the entire room turns to look at who the heck asked the geekiest question EVER. Then, God love him, my hero Pete Conrad says: "Well, this young man knows more about the technical aspects of the LEM than I do." And, for the next minute or so he answers my question telling me all about the explosive bolts that attached the two parts of the LEM and how they activate them shortly before they start the ascent engine.

[@LMacNeill]

Apollo 12 was a hell of a lot more fun than Apollo 11, because it had all "been done before." The pressure was off. There was no "giant leap for mankind". It was just "routine" lunar exploration. Pete Conrad was the perfect man to command the mission -- great guy, absolutely wonderful sense of humor, very highly intelligent, highly motivated, but also able to have fun while carrying out a serious mission. If I had to pick an Apollo mission to be on, it would've been Apollo 12.

[@tybo09]

Have you done a video about the prank the backup crew played on Pete and Al with their EVA checklist? Teehee. I think the Apollo 12 mission is probably my favorite of all time because of the personalities of the crew. Those guys were a hoot.

[@grahamgilmour3758]

I am sure I recall reading about that throughout the incident, Pete Conrad never took his hand off from the abort handle, but also, never thought about actually using it.

[@carlousmagus5387]

Might be my fav Apollo mission too, loved the landing.

[@georgia-qy9ve]

dont forget that because of the incident, mission control had no idea if the parachutes were gonna work at the end of the mission

[@johncronin9540]

georgia 0929 And there was no possible way to check it in orbit. (The flight plans for all Apollo missions included about an orbit and a half to double check everything, before executing the TLI burn). So the managers decided that there was nothing they could do about it, they might as well go to the Moon anyway, because if the chute system had been shorted out, there was no way to rescue the crew.

[@rlic9206]

Love your channel. Being born one month after Sputnik 1 went into orbit, I grew up with the space missions and a telescope.

[@robertmonaghan5420]

Rock on, Amy. I grew up Watching The Moon Landings. You do an Awesome Job of Bringing Them back to Life. I try to watch any video You Post.

[@danbell3378]

I agree with you about Pete Conrad. He's my favorite, too. I'll bet it would have been great to hang out with him and have a few beers. Would loved to have heard his stories!😂

[@FloStudios]

I wish you woulda added the bit about them later calling the guy in the control room a "steely eyed missile man"! The phrase was reused as a reference in The Martian.

[@TheSpliceofLife]

It was also in "Apollo 13".

[@MaxieGrant]

I listened to several of the missions or parts at least, and I have to agree they are the most adorable, brave crew ever. Listening to them cheer each other on like during lunar landing, is tear-inducing.

[@boxesofzitti]

Wasn't John Aaron called a "steely-eyed missile man"?

[@cottagechskitty]

I would highly recommend a full listen of the Apollo 12 audio. It's on YT. It's a delight :) Especially once things go clear and they have a lot of laughs about what the heck happened

[@dalesfailssagaofasuslord783]

The steely eyed missle man. Middle kid really. Can’t imagine the pressure they were under in mission control during the insane schedule of the Mercury , gemeni, and Apollo.

[@nicholassmith4052]

"Sce to aux, what the hell is that?" Haha

[@Aussiedwarf]

I loved hearing the apollo 12 audio!

[@dougalexander7204]

Amy, your a class act. Vintage Space is done professional with the touch of a sparkling smart woman. Please stay awesome,

[@johnjgood793]

Loved the format you used Amy, IDing each voice to it's picture.

[@AmyShiraTeitel]

Glad you enjoyed it! I had a lot of fun with this one.

[@zemyos]

Yeees 😱 I was waiting for this video :D

[@sanders555]

Amy and lightning have one thing in common... killer bangs.

[@EdWeibe]

yep and this indicator issue can happen in your car if your alternator goes out and your battery is running down. All sorts of warnings can come about that arent really problems. Pete Conrads later interviews are a great listen about the Apollo 12 incident..

[@mc2594]

Apollo 12 visited Surveyor 3 the only mission to land near a previous unmanned mission that had tested pre Apollo TV pictures, the Camera was returned by Apollo 12, now in a musuem somewhere. Surveyor 3 - how to land on the moon - lesson 2.

[@ChristopherUSSmith]

The Signal Conditioner Equipment (SCE) circuitry ensured 51 telemetry data items and 46 critical spacecraft systems and displays had power "just in case of such an emergency" as Foghorn Leghorn would say (per Gene Kranz's book). John Aaron sure earned his "steely-eyed missile man" moniker that day, and just in time for Apollo 13's near disaster.

[@soupcampbell9306]

Great video. I named my Jendea Conure Yuri Gagarin in the same manner. Somthing about the idea of being the first person to breach the planet... I stop at work and stare into nothing somtimes wondering what that mist have been like. It's haunting and inspiring at the same time. Like the first persons to use the deep versions of the wet suit or diving bell. Guts of steel.

[@ltrich50]

Best vlog yet, Amy. Good job.

[@jackrackham3406]

Amy, could y'all do an episode on the MOOSE project? Never really went anywhere, but I've always thought that if it had, maybe it could've saved the Columbia crew.

[@navic209]

Love your videos but this one specifically for the mission audio transcription matching the astronauts faces - AWESOME! Thank you Amy!

[@JS-ob4oh]

John Aaron (EECOM) did not see the same telemetry pattern on a sim "years" before - he saw it almost exactly ONE year before.

[@TheSpliceofLife]

Remembering where I've seen a problem before is exactly how I resolve IT problems.

[@fxando]

Fantastic!! I remember I've seen this history in one of the magnific From The Earth to The Moon episodes. But here it was real dialogues!! Wonderfull!!

[@sgriffett541]

you raise the bar so wonderfully for you tube... my son asks: how come you know so much about space and stuff dad? :]

[@leelawrence3379]

Is there a Mrs. potato head? thank you for these videos. I was 10 when Apollo 11 landed and it is still a great memory. I really thought we would be living and working on the moon by now considering the pace that was set back then.

[@VernAfterReading]

Loved Apollo 12 after watching "From the Earth to the Moon" series. Made me a fan of Al Bean. Did he really come back and think "is that all there is?" I think about that quote a lot given the stalled space program.

[@redburn03]

I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoy all that you do. keep up the amazing job.

[@donaldparlettjr3295]

That why most of them were former test pilots or top pilots because they would settle down and work the problem. Watch the movie Sully and you'll see the example of a pilot hit with something you don't train for and their experience shines. Having big brass balls doesn't hurt either.

[@mako88sb]

Yes, which is also why 6 of the 7 Apollo commanders that did the hands-on control manipulation for the LM landing were former naval aviators. All that experience of landing high-performance combat aircraft on carriers in all kinds of lousy weather conditions, and often at night, was a key part of the success of the Apollo program. I had some nutcase trying to tell me that the landings would have been impossible with manual control and could only be done via an autonomous landing system.

[@gasaholic47]

So, here's a question: Did the SCE have to remain on Aux for the reminder of the mission, or were they eventually able to return it to normal after all the resets? never knew if that was done or not.

[@GavinWhateley666]

No they switched it back to normal flight seting after the fuel cells came back online

[@kevinmahernz]

Apollo 12's crew definitely seemed to have the crew with the most charisma. I have read a book on the launches and yeah, their moon shoot is definitely interesting!

[@ScottMitchum]

Another great job of bringing history back to life! Who knows what might have happened if Aaron hadn't remembered that tidbit of information or if it had never come up during training? Great argument against those few who seem to feel NASA was too cautious and overworked the astronauts in training.

[@realLuisGiordano]

They sell the switch on Ebay for ~$70. Its a great gift for coworkers on a IT department when they easily solve situations that otherwise would have a catastrophic outcome for the company

[@MrJackHackney]

That lightning strike moment was a foreshadow of the next Apollo flight. Lucky 13!

[@Mark16v15]

Amy, how about a vid of how the LEM-CSM dockings worked? In one NASA vid showing Armstrong docking, apparently the impact was enough to dislodge the CSM camera photographing it. Did he dock too hard? Did they all use some sort of scope, which they stowed away when not in use because I don't think you see it much if at all in routine mission photographs. Were there any electronics involved in docking, or was it just good visual aiming by the crew? (I think now docking can be done purely by an autopilot.) What sort of abort procedures did they have if a docking seemed to be going wrong? If it was impossible to dock, how would an EVA have worked? Would the CSM pilot have thrown a line to the LEM crew, and they transfer through their external hatches? Thanks for your informative and interesting videos.

[@gheilers]

Note the "older" photo of John Aaron in Mission Control. Standing next to him is the late Elliot See.

[@GM-ft9po]

Amy, It would be interesting to hear about why the Apollo service module (engine)was designed and built 2X more powerful than required.

[@Razorusskie]

What I recall the most is getting up in the morning at the age of 10 to see their first of two EVAs on the moon, only to see actors in suits in a studio - a REAL studio, doing a mock moonwalk with the real astronaut's voices in the background. This was because Pete Conrad had by accident pointed the tv camera into the sun! Unless you got up really early that morning, you missed "the first color pictures from the moon!" So after Apollo 11, it wasn't until Apollo 14 that most of us actually got to see men walking on the moon again (Apollo 13 of course had to abort their moon landing all together). Sheesh!

[@ChristopherUSSmith]

Razorusskie At least CBS had the best dramatization (thanks to Wally Schirra's connections). :)

[@Drthclown]

This is officially my fav chan on KZbin

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

Meanwhile, as the CSM instrumentation was all going haywire and confusing the poor crew with meaningless readings, the Saturn V rocket kept right on firing on the right course and trajectory. The IBM-built computer that kept it running never missed a beat. The MIT folks who did the AGC could have learned a thing or two from them, I think.

[@docdaneeka3424]

Well the fact it it was a completely seperate system in a different part of the rocket, presumably the part where the lightning didn't hit. Not really anything to do with IBM vs MIT... Multiple redundancy is one of the first tools to build critical systems, and a common technique is to make each of the redundant units from a different design, manufacturer, different software etc, so that some systematic fault does not wipe out all redundant units. But I think the launch vehicle computer was sperate mostly because that system was developed well before the apollo space craft anyway...