On November 14, 1969, Apollo 12 is launched, almost becoming the first Apollo mission to abort in mid-launch after lightning strikes the command module. Even though mission control and the crew manage to get the situation under control again, nothing else about Apollo 12 follows the serious and even stately precedent set by Apollo 11. Lunar module pilot Al Bean, a member of the third “class” of astronaut recruits whose ranks have dropped due to deaths in aircraft accidents (and, in Roger Chaffee’s case, the Apollo 1 fire), feels especially priveleged to share the trip to the moon with Dick Gordon and practical joker Pete Conrad. Apollo 12’s crew are more than colleagues – they’re friends. But Bean also has a clumsy streak, which could endanger everything from a new color TV camera to vital scientific experiments. With the whole world watching (well, perhaps not, after he fries the TV camera by pointing it into the sun), he tries not to let his country or his crewmates down.
written by Paul McCudden, Erik Bork and Tom Hanks
directed by Jon Turteltaub
music by Mason DaringCast: Jeff Breslauer (Technician), David Clyde Carr (Gerry Griffin), George Colangelo (“Buck” Willoughby), Dave Foley (Al Bean), Jim Leavy (C.C. Williams), Ben Marley (Roger Chaffee), Paul McCrane (Pete Conrad), Geoffrey Nauffts (Ed Gibson), Mike Pniewski (Flight Surgeon), Shawn Pyfrom (Ten year old boy), Gary Rorman (Geologist), Lane Smith (Emmett Seaborn), John Travis (John Aaron), Tom Verica (Dick Gordon)
Note: Pete Conrad is the only astronaut played by two different actors in the series; here he’s played by Paul McCrane, but was originally portrayed by executive producer Tom Hanks’ former Bosom Buddies co-star Peter Scolari.
LogBook entry by Earl Green