The Latest Breaking News from Alan Bean

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

During Apollo 12’s lunar mission, an incident occurred shortly after the astronauts landed on the Moon. Alan Bean unintentionally aimed the television camera at the Sun, resulting in irreversible damage to the camera's imaging tube. Consequently, the live broadcast from the Moon was halted for the duration of their stay,…

The Economic Times · Aug 27

In 1969, Apollo 12 began broadcasting from the Moon, but Alan Bean accidentally aimed its camera at the Sun and killed the live TV feed

During the Apollo 12 mission, astronaut Alan Bean mistakenly aimed the color television camera at the sun, leading to overheating and the loss of live color transmissions from the moon. Although this incident curtailed real-time broadcasts, a wealth of still photos and 16mm film preserved the lunar journey. As a…

The Economic Times · Aug 23

Auction offers Neil Armstrong's reply to NASA engineer's Apollo 11 mission patch ideas

Neil Armstrong was appreciative, but it was too late. The Apollo 11 crew had a design for the first moon landing. Armstrong's note and the patch idea that inspired it are now up for auction.

Space · Feb 9, 2025