Editing Openai/67c4e193-e008-8008-8d82-c239519e3d5a (section)

==== Apollo 12 – Second Moon Landing ====

Mission Data: Apollo 12 (November 1969) was the second lunar landing and brought a more advanced suite of cameras and experiments. Unfortunately, the color TV camera Apollo 12 carried infamously failed minutes into the first moonwalk (it was pointed at the Sun and its vidicon tube was damaged). As a result, there was no live TV broadcast after the first few minutes – Apollo 12’s EVA had no video feed to record (aside from those initial moments). This means there were likely fewer video-related telemetry tapes for Apollo 12 compared to Apollo 11. Still, all other telemetry (spacecraft engineering, voice, biomedical, etc.) was continuously sent and recorded at stations. Apollo 12’s Command Module and Lunar Module telemetry tapes would have been handled in the same way as Apollo 11’s: stored initially and then eventually disposed of. We have no indication that Apollo 12 mission tapes were spared – by NASA’s account, none of the Apollo 12 telemetry tapes remain in the archives todaynasa.gov<ref>{{cite web|title=nasa.gov|url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/alsj/a11/Apollo_11_TV_Tapes_Report.pdf#:~:text=searchers%20never%20found%20what%20they,Apollo%2011%20moon%20landing%20and|publisher=nasa.gov|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>.

Scientific Telemetry – ALSEP: Apollo 12 was the first mission to deploy a full Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) on the Moon. This included experiments like a Passive Seismic Experiment (seismometer), a Cold Cathode Ion Gauge (to measure lunar atmosphere), a Solar Wind Spectrometer, a magnetometer, and others. These instruments sent scientific telemetry to Earth for years after the mission (Apollo 12’s ALSEP operated until 1977). The data were recorded in several forms: initially on analog “range tapes” and later on digital tapes (called ARCSAV tapes) once the data was processed at Johnson Space Centerpoikiloblastic.wordpress.com<ref>{{cite web|title=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|url=https://poikiloblastic.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/the-long-road-to-alsep-data-recovery/#:~:text=Manned%20Space%20Flight%20Network%20on,And%20throughout%20this%20eight|publisher=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|date=2013-02-22|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>. During Apollo 12’s mission and shortly after, scientists received and analyzed some of this data, but archiving was incomplete. In the 1970s, only portions of ALSEP data were formally archived to the National Space Science Data Center, while huge volumes of raw data were left on tape reels that went into storagentrs.nasa.gov<ref>{{cite web|title=ntrs.nasa.gov|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20190032593/downloads/20190032593.pdf#:~:text=submitted%20to%20the%20NASA%20Space,necessary%2Fuseful%20in%20properly%20processing%2Fanalyzing%20the|publisher=ntrs.nasa.gov|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>ntrs.nasa.gov<ref>{{cite web|title=ntrs.nasa.gov|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20190032593/downloads/20190032593.pdf#:~:text=were%20not,efforts%20in%20the%201970s%2C%20the|publisher=ntrs.nasa.gov|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>. After the ALSEP network was shut down in 1977, NASA had over 5,000 ARCSAV tapes from all the Apollo sitespoikiloblastic.wordpress.com<ref>{{cite web|title=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|url=https://poikiloblastic.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/the-long-road-to-alsep-data-recovery/#:~:text=,most%20of%20these%20are%20missing|publisher=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|date=2013-02-22|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref> – Apollo 12’s share being significant since its instruments ran the longest (over 7 years). Regrettably, many of those tapes were lost over time. Records show that about 3,270 ARCSAV tapes (1973–1976 data) were sent to WNRC for archivingpoikiloblastic.wordpress.com<ref>{{cite web|title=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|url=https://poikiloblastic.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/the-long-road-to-alsep-data-recovery/#:~:text=Manned%20Space%20Flight%20Network%20on,And%20throughout%20this%20eight|publisher=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|date=2013-02-22|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>poikiloblastic.wordpress.com<ref>{{cite web|title=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|url=https://poikiloblastic.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/the-long-road-to-alsep-data-recovery/#:~:text=Records%20show%20something%20like%203270,goes%20cold%20after%20they%20were|publisher=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|date=2013-02-22|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>, but in 1981 NASA Goddard withdrew about 2,800 of them amid a general tape recycling effortpoikiloblastic.wordpress.com<ref>{{cite web|title=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|url=https://poikiloblastic.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/the-long-road-to-alsep-data-recovery/#:~:text=Records%20show%20something%20like%203270,goes%20cold%20after%20they%20were|publisher=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|date=2013-02-22|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>poikiloblastic.wordpress.com<ref>{{cite web|title=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|url=https://poikiloblastic.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/the-long-road-to-alsep-data-recovery/#:~:text=analog%20tapes%20from%20WNRC%2C%20prompted,basement%20of%20GSFC%20during%20cleanup|publisher=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|date=2013-02-22|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>. Those Apollo 12+ (and other ALSEP) tapes were then stored in a Goddard basement and later some were destroyed by a flood in 1990poikiloblastic.wordpress.com<ref>{{cite web|title=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|url=https://poikiloblastic.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/the-long-road-to-alsep-data-recovery/#:~:text=for%20reusable%2Frecyclable%20tapes,basement%20of%20GSFC%20during%20cleanup|publisher=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|date=2013-02-22|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>. The trail goes cold after that cleanup – effectively, most Apollo 12 ALSEP raw data tapes went missing or were destroyed by the 1990spoikiloblastic.wordpress.com<ref>{{cite web|title=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|url=https://poikiloblastic.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/the-long-road-to-alsep-data-recovery/#:~:text=Records%20show%20something%20like%203270,goes%20cold%20after%20they%20were|publisher=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|date=2013-02-22|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>poikiloblastic.wordpress.com<ref>{{cite web|title=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|url=https://poikiloblastic.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/the-long-road-to-alsep-data-recovery/#:~:text=fortunate%20www,basement%20of%20GSFC%20during%20cleanup|publisher=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|date=2013-02-22|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>.

Despite this, Apollo 12’s science data has seen restoration in recent years. The ALSEP preservation team managed to track down and recover about 440 of the lost ALSEP tapes in 2010ntrs.nasa.gov<ref>{{cite web|title=ntrs.nasa.gov|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20190032593/downloads/20190032593.pdf#:~:text=ALSEP%20data%20archived%20in%20the,These|publisher=ntrs.nasa.gov|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>ntrs.nasa.gov<ref>{{cite web|title=ntrs.nasa.gov|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20190032593/downloads/20190032593.pdf#:~:text=System%20%28PDS%29,These%20newly|publisher=ntrs.nasa.gov|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref> (from various sources, including WNRC). Some of these recovered tapes included Apollo 12 experiment data, particularly from 1975. For example, binary tapes of Apollo 12’s Cold Cathode Ion Gauge (CCIG) and Solar Wind Spectrometer (SWS) for April–June 1975 were recovered and read out. By 2019, the team had successfully extracted and cleaned Apollo 12’s data from those tapes and released them via the Planetary Data System (PDS)pds-geosciences.wustl.edu<ref>{{cite web|title=pds-geosciences.wustl.edu|url=https://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/apollo/index.htm#:~:text=October%2015%2C%202019,data%20are%20now%20available%20online|publisher=pds-geosciences.wustl.edu|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>. Specifically, restored Apollo 12 SWS data and Ion Gauge data were published, filling gaps in the archive with raw measurements that had been unavailable for decadespds-geosciences.wustl.edu<ref>{{cite web|title=pds-geosciences.wustl.edu|url=https://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/apollo/index.htm#:~:text=October%2015%2C%202019,data%20are%20now%20available%20online|publisher=pds-geosciences.wustl.edu|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>. In addition, some original PI experiment tapes survived outside NASA: Apollo 12’s dust detector principal investigator, Prof. Brian O’Brien, had kept personal 7-track tapes of his experiment results. One such Apollo 12 dust detector data tape (days 465–468 of operation) is shown below, and data from tapes like this have been used to reconstruct Apollo 12’s dust measurement recordpoikiloblastic.wordpress.com<ref>{{cite web|title=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|url=https://poikiloblastic.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/the-long-road-to-alsep-data-recovery/#:~:text=Image%3A%20ALSEP%20dust%20detector%20data,O%E2%80%99Brien%20PI%20and%20SpectrumData|publisher=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|date=2013-02-22|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>:

poikiloblastic.wordpress.com<ref>{{cite web|title=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|url=https://poikiloblastic.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/the-long-road-to-alsep-data-recovery/#:~:text=Goddard%20Space%20Flight%20Center,most%20of%20these%20are%20missing|publisher=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|date=2013-02-22|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref> Apollo 12 ALSEP dust detector data tape (7-track, in a “NASA – Manned Spacecraft Center” canister). This tape from the experiment’s PI was crucial in recovering scientific telemetry for Apollo 12poikiloblastic.wordpress.com<ref>{{cite web|title=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|url=https://poikiloblastic.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/the-long-road-to-alsep-data-recovery/#:~:text=Image%3A%20ALSEP%20dust%20detector%20data,O%E2%80%99Brien%20PI%20and%20SpectrumData|publisher=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|date=2013-02-22|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>. Such PI-held tapes, along with recovered archive tapes, allowed restoration of Apollo 12’s ALSEP data in NASA’s databases.

Current Status: Mission Operations Tapes: No Apollo 12 vehicle telemetry tapes (the ones capturing spacecraft state and comms during launch, lunar landing, etc.) are known to exist now. They were almost certainly reused in the early ’80s like the othersnasa.gov<ref>{{cite web|title=nasa.gov|url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/alsj/a11/Apollo_11_TV_Tapes_Report.pdf#:~:text=searchers%20never%20found%20what%20they,Apollo%2011%20moon%20landing%20and|publisher=nasa.gov|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>. As a result, the only way to study Apollo 12 mission telemetry is via the processed data in mission documents. For instance, the Apollo 12 Mission Report contains detailed engineering readouts and event timelines compiled from the telemetry at the time. The mission also had a recorder on the LM that captured data during the brief communications blackout of descent (Apollo 12’s LM lost contact momentarily during landing); that data was transmitted after landing and would have been on telemetry tape – but again, those tapes were not kept. The mission voice recordings (air-to-ground and Houston voice loops) were preserved on audio tape. Apollo 12’s audio hasn’t been as widely publicized as 11 or 13, but the tapes exist at JSC. Through the same digitization project, one can expect Apollo 12’s mission control audio to be eventually available (some Apollo 12 audio is already on NASA’s site demonstrating two-way light-time delaysnasa.gov<ref>{{cite web|title=nasa.gov|url=https://www.nasa.gov/history/alsj/a12/A12Audio_Moon_Houston.html#:~:text=Apollo%2012%20Audio%3A%20Houston%20vs,or%2018%3A20%20UTC%20on|publisher=nasa.gov|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>). The television footage from Apollo 12 is minimal due to the camera failure; what little was transmitted is archived (mostly showing the crew stepping onto the Moon before the camera died).

Scientific Tapes: Apollo 12’s ALSEP telemetry tapes were largely lost, but significant portions of the scientific data have been recovered in digital form. As of now, Apollo 12’s seismic data, charged particle data, and other experiment results are available via PDS, either from original submissions or newly recovered sources. The physical tapes that yielded these recovered data (like the 1975 ARCSAV reels) were read and then likely retired – some are stored at NASA facilities for safekeeping, but others might have been in poor condition. The example tape in the image above was read by a data recovery contractor (SpectrumData) in the 2010spoikiloblastic.wordpress.com<ref>{{cite web|title=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|url=https://poikiloblastic.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/the-long-road-to-alsep-data-recovery/#:~:text=Image%3A%20ALSEP%20dust%20detector%20data,O%E2%80%99Brien%20PI%20and%20SpectrumData|publisher=poikiloblastic.wordpress.com|date=2013-02-22|access-date=2025-12-06}}</ref>, after which the data was preserved digitally. Therefore, Apollo 12’s scientific telemetry is accessible to researchers in a way that its mission telemetry is not. No Apollo 12 telemetry reels are on public display or known in private collections. The major result for Apollo 12 is that the mission’s science telemetry has been saved from oblivion, while the mission operation tapes remain missing.