Astronaut Training
The crew of Apollo 12 during spacecraft checkout activity at
North American Rockwell Space Division at Downey, California.
Left to right, are Charles Conrad Jr., commander; Richard F.
Gordon Jr., command module pilot; and Alan L. Bean, lunar
module pilot.
NASA built this device to simulate the experience of walking
in the one-sixth gravity of the moon, by lifting five sixths
of the combined weight of the astronaut, suit and backpack.
Alan refers to the experience as his first space-age wedgie.
Pete Conrad and Alan Bean perform a simulated moonwalk in a
lunarlike environment. They trained in locations that
geologists believed would duplicate the surface they would
encounter on the moon, such as volcanic areas of Iceland and
Hawaii.
One of the most important tasks of the second moonwalk of
Apollo 12 involved a short hike to the unmanned Surveyor III
nearby. Surveyor had landed on the moon's surface some 33
months earlier and several critical parts were to be collected
and returned to Earth for evaluation.
General Motors treated the Apollo astronauts to two new cars
of their choice every year. Most selected a corvette and a
family car.
Next: Apollo 12 Slideshow
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