Question 1

True or false: Apollo 12's command module was named ‘Yankee Clipper’ and the lunar module ‘Intrepid’.

Accepted Answer

True. Correct; the CSM was Yankee Clipper (after the sailing ship) and the LM was Intrepid (meaning brave).

Question 2

True or false: Astronaut Pete Conrad accidentally ripped his spacesuit on a rock during the moonwalk.

Accepted Answer

False. No suit tear occurred; Conrad did famously trip and fall, but his suit remained intact.

Question 3

True or false: The Apollo 12 astronauts played rock music on the lunar surface to celebrate their landing.

Accepted Answer

False. They sang and joked, but no music was played; the myth likely stems from their jovial banter with Mission Control.

Question 4

True or false: The Apollo 12 crew left a gold-plated olive branch on the Moon as a symbol of peace.

Accepted Answer

False. Apollo 11 left a gold olive branch; Apollo 12 left a small plaque and the Surveyor 3 parts, not a branch.

Question 5

True or false: Apollo 12 was struck by lightning twice during launch, but the mission continued.

Accepted Answer

True. At 36 and 52 seconds after liftoff, lightning hit the Saturn V, temporarily knocking out telemetry, but systems rebooted.

Question 6

True or false: Apollo 12's lunar module landed close enough to Surveyor 3 that astronauts walked to it.

Accepted Answer

True. They landed just 163 meters from Surveyor 3, retrieving parts from the probe for analysis—a precision feat.

Question 7

True or false: Apollo 12 was the first mission to bring back a piece of an unmanned spacecraft from the Moon.

Accepted Answer

True. They retrieved the camera and other components from Surveyor 3, which had been on the Moon since 1967.

Question 8

True or false: Apollo 12 carried a color TV camera that was accidentally pointed at the Sun, ruining it.

Accepted Answer

True. Alan Bean aimed the TV camera at the Sun, burning out its sensor, so no live color footage from the surface exists.

Apollo 12 Trivia Questions