Apollo 12 Astronauts Return Home (1969)

Duration: 2:12

Year Published: 1969

Sound: sound

Description: This news footage for Houston’s KPRC-TV captures the arrival of Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad, Richard Gordon, and Alan Bean in Houston. The flight crew are kept inside a Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF). The converted Airstream trailer was designed to isolate the astronauts for several days until scientists could determine if they carried unknown “moon germs.” NASA scientists eventually proved that the Moon was void of life, and the agency eliminated the quarantine requirement after Apollo 14. Launched on November 14, 1969, Apollo 12 was the second space mission to land on the Moon. Conrad and Gordon spent more than 31 hours on the lunar surface, exiting the Lunar Module on two occasions. After rejoining Bean in the Command Module, the three-man flight crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on November 24. NASA later sold the MQF used for Apollo 12 as surplus. Officials with the US Space and Rocket Center found the trailer at an aquatic research farm near Marion, Alabama, in 2007. It is now on display at the museum.