NASA's Apollo 12 survived two lightning strikes, then astronaut Alan Bean accidentally pointed its TV camera at the Sun, ending live broadcasts from the Moon

One of NASA’s most memorable Apollo mishaps happened just minutes after astronauts stepped onto the Moon. During Apollo 12, astronaut Alan Bean was setting up a color television camera on the lunar surface when he accidentally pointed it directly toward the Sun. The intense sunlight permanently damaged the camera’s imaging tube, abruptly ending live television coverage from the Moon for the rest of the mission.

Apollo 12 launched from Cape Kennedy on November 14, 1969, becoming the second crewed mission to successfully land astronauts on the Moon. Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr. and Alan Bean touched down in the Ocean of Storms on November 19, while command module pilot Richard Gordon remained in lunar orbit aboard Yankee Clipper.