Apollo 12 crew
Corrected Transcript and Commentary Copyright © 1995 by Eric M. Jones. All rights reserved.
Last revised 6 August 2011.


Apollo 12 Crew Portrait


Mission Commander

Capt. Charles ("Pete") Conrad, Jr., Commander, USN

Capt. Conrad

Personal: Born June 2, 1930, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Married, four children.
Education: B.S. in aeronautical engineering, Princeton University, 1953.
Spaceflights: Pilot, Gemini 5 (1965). Command pilot, Gemini 11 (1966). Commander, Apollo 12 (1969) and Skylab 2 (1973).

Chosen with the second group of astronauts in 1962. Served as pilot of Gemini 5, backup command pilot of Gemini 8, command pilot of Gemini 11, backup commander of Apollo 9, commander of Apollo 12 (third man to walk on the Moon), and commander of Skylab 2. Retired the Navy, with the rank of Captain, and from NASA on February 1, 1974, to become Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the American Television and Communications Corporation, a cable television firm in Denver, Colorado. Vice President for International Business Development, McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co., Huntington Beach, California. While at McDonnell Douglas, Pete helped in the design of the International Space Station and performed suited EVA simulations in water tanks. Later, he participated in flight testing of the Delta Clipper experimental rocket, which was designed to take off and land vertically. After retiring from McDonnell Douglas, Pete formed Universal Space Lines and other small companies devoted to the commercial development of space. He died on July 8, 1999 as the result of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident, living life to the fullest as he always did. Photo courtesy of Ulli Lotzmann, who writes: "Pete died after crashing his 1996 Harley-Davidson on Highway 150 in Southern California. Authorities said he lost control of his motorcycle at a slow rate of speed along a twisty stretch of highway, where countless other accidents have occurred. He was wearing a helmet and protective gear at the time of the accident and appeared to have only sustained minor injuries. He was alert when taken to the Ojai Valley Community Hospital; but, when his condition worsened, doctors detected internal bleeding and were unable to revive him. He died on the operating table five hours after the accident. Pete passed away in Ojai, California. The Chumash Indians lived in Ojai prior to the arrival of Spanish missionaries. The name 'Ojai' is taken from the Chumash word 'A'hwai', meaning 'nest' or 'moon'."

Ken Glover has provided a program from the Memorial Service held at Fort Myer, Virginia, on 19 July 1999. Pete is buried at Arlington National Cemetary.

  • NASA photo S69-38866 is a portrait of Pete taken during training.

  • Command Module Pilot

    Richard Francis Gordon, Jr., Commander, USN (Retired)

    Richard Gordon

    Personal: Born October 5, 1929, Seattle, Washington. Married, six children.
    Education: B.S. in chemistry, University of Washington, 1951.
    Spaceflights: Pilot, Gemini 11 (1966). Command module pilot, Apollo 12 (1969).

    Chosen with the third group of astronauts in 1963. Was backup pilot for Gemini 8, pilot for Gemini 11, backup command module pilot for Apollo 9, command module pilot for Apollo 12, and backup commander for Apollo 15. Retired from NASA and the Navy, with the rank of Captain, on January 1, 1972, to become Executive Vice-President of the New Orleans Saints football team, a position he resigned on April 1, 1977. Worked as Vice President, Operations, at Scott Science and Technology, Inc., and later as Chairman, Astro Science Corporation in Los Angeles, and President, Space Age America, Inc.

  • NASA photo S69-56702 shows Dick Gordon working with a Hasselblad camera - equipped with a 500-mm lens - in the Command Module Simulator at the Kennedy Space Center on 22 October 1969.

  • Lunar Module Pilot

    Alan LaVerne Bean, Commander, USN

    Alan Bean

    Personal: Born March 15, 1932, Wheeler, Texas. Divorced, two children.
    Education: B.S. in aeronautical engineering, University of Texas, 1955.
    Spaceflights: Lunar module pilot, Apollo 12 (1969). Commander, Skylab 3 (1973)

    Chosen with the third group of astronauts in 1963. Served as backup command pilot for Gemini 10, backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 9, lunar module pilot for Apollo 12 (fourth man to walk on the Moon), commander for Skylab 3, and backup commander for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Retired from the Navy with the rank of Captain in October 1975 and from NASA on June 26, 1981, to work as an artist. Bean works in acrylic and paints themes from lunar exploration and, as of September 2006, was still painting.

  • NASA photo S69-38859 is a portrait of Al taken during training.

  • Landing and LM Launch CapCom

    Col. Gerald P. Carr, USMC (Retired).

    Col. Gerald Carr

    Personal: Born August 22, 1932, Denver, Colorado. Married.
    Education: B.S. in mechanical engineering, University of Southern California, 1954. B.S. in aeronautical engineering, U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, 1961. M.S. in aeronautical engineering, Princeton University, 1962.
    Spaceflights: Commander, Skylab 4 (1973).

    Chosen with the fifth group of astronauts in 1966. Served as Landing and LM Launch CapCom on Apollo 12. Was instrumental in the development of the lunar roving vehicle used by the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 astronauts, and was commander of Skylab 4. Retired from the Marine Corps in September 1975 and resigned from NASA in June 1977. Worked as Vice President, Bovay Engineers, Inc.; as a senior consultant for Applied Research Inc., in Houston, Texas; and later as President, CAMUS, Inc., Huntsville, Arkansas, and Director of the Arkansas Aerospace Education Center in Little Rock.

  • NASA photo S71-51282 Gerry's Skylab 4 Mission Portrait.


    EVA CapCom

    Dr. Edward G. Gibson, civilian

    Dr. Ed Gibson

    Personal: Born November 8, 1936, Buffalo, New York. Married, four children.
    Education: B.S. in engineering, University of Rochester, 1959. M.S., 1960, Ph.D., 1964, both in engineering from the California Institute of Technology.
    Spaceflights: Science pilot, Skylab 4 (1973).

    Chosen with the fourth group of astronauts in 1965. Served as EVA CapCom on Apollo 12. Resigned from NASA in November 1974 to join the Aerospace Corporation as senior staff scientist, and then became a senior consultant for Spacelab operations at VFW Fokker/ERNO in Europe. Rejoined NASA in March 1977, but resigned again in October 1980 to work for TRW and later moved to Booz, Allen and Hamilton. In 1990, he formed his own consulting company, Gibson International Corp., Carlsbad, California.

  • NASA photo S71-52275 is Ed's Skylab 4 Mission Portrait.


    Goodnight and Wake-up CapCom

    Capt. Paul Joseph Weitz, USN (Retired)

    Capt. Paul Weitz

    Personal: Born July 25, 1932, Erie, Pennsylvania. Married, two children.
    Education: B.S. in aeronautical engineering, Pennsylvania State University, 1954. M.S. in aeronautical engineering, U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, 1964.
    Spaceflights: Pilot, Skylab 2 (1973). Commander, STS-6 (1983).

    Served in various naval squadrons and was chosen with the fifth group of astronauts in 1966. Retired from the Navy on June 1, 1976. Weitz was Deputy Director of NASA's Johnson Space Center at the time of his retirement from NASA service in 1994.

  • NASA photo S71-51307 is Paul's Skylab 2 Mission Portrait.


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