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| An Apollo 12 Insurance Cover (Type 1) from "Bishop" (Al Bishop) featuring the mission insignia, postmarked at Kennedy Space Center with a machine cancel on November 14, 1969, signed by Charles Conrad, Richard Gordon and Alan Bean. The cover is mounted on a typed card additionally signed by Charles Conrad. This cover was originally from the personal collection of Charles Conrad. - Bonhams |
Apollo 12, the second U.S. moon landing mission, was launched on November 14, 1969, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Commander Charles "Pete" Conrad and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L. Bean conducted one day and seven hours of activities on the lunar surface, while Command Module Pilot Richard F. Gordon remained in lunar orbit.
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| Photo: The Apollo 12 crew, from left to right: Charles Conrad, Richard Gordon, and Alan Bean. |
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| Photo: Charles Conrad and Alan Bean during a rehearsal for the Apollo 12 lunar mission. |
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| An Apollo 12 Insurance Cover (Type 1) from "Bishop" featuring the mission insignia, postmarked at Kennedy Space Center with a machine cancel on November 14, 1969, signed by Charles Conrad, Richard Gordon, and Alan Bean. On the reverse, Bean has handwritten “INSURANCE COVER FROM MY COLLECTION” and additionally signed “ALAN BEAN APOLLO 12 LMP”. This cover was originally from the personal collection of Alan Bean. - Heritage Auctions |
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| Photo: Alan Bean, the lunar module pilot for the Apollo 12 mission, outlined the experiments the crew would perform on the moon during a press conference on October 3, 1969.
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| Photo: The Apollo 12 crew — Charles Conrad, Richard Gordon and Alan Bean — enjoy breakfast before suiting up for their spaceflight on November 14, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 12 launch cover from "Heritage Crafts", postmarked at Kennedy Space Center with a machine cancel on November 14, 1969, signed by Alan Bean, Richard Gordon and Charles Conrad. |
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| An Apollo 12 launch cover featuring the "KSC Officials" stamped cachet, postmarked at Kennedy Space Center with a hand cancel on November 14, 1969. |
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| Photo: Charles Conrad waves while leading the Apollo 12 crew to the van that will transport them to the launch pad on November 14, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 12 launch cover from "Thermograph", featuring an illustration of the Apollo 12 crew - Charles Conrad Jr., Richard Gordon Jr. and Alan Bean, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on November 14, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 12 launch cover from "NASA Manned Spacecraft Center Stamp Club" featuring the mission insignia, postmarked at Kennedy Space Center with a machine cancel on November 14, 1969, signed by Charles Conrad, Richard Gordon, and Alan Bean. - RegencyStamps |
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| Photo: The crew from the upcoming Apollo 13 mission—Ken Mattingly, Fred Haise, and Jim Lovell—watching the Apollo 12 moon landing from Mission Control in Houston. |
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| An Apollo 12 launch cover from "SpaceCraft Swanson", postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on November 14, 1969.
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| Photo: This composite image highlights the Apollo 12 landing site on the Moon for November 19, alongside the location where Apollo 11 touched down in July. The success of the Apollo 12 crew in landing within walking distance of a 636-foot-wide crater is crucial, as future missions are slated for even more challenging landing zones. (Note: Contrary to the caption, only five Apollo missions followed Apollo 12, not eight.) |
Shortly after launch on a rainy day at Kennedy Space Center, Apollo 12 was struck by lightning twice, causing instrumentation issues but resulting in little damage. On November 19, Conrad and Bean achieved a precise landing at their target location, just within walking distance of the Surveyor 3 robotic probe, which had landed on April 20, 1967. Their successful pinpoint landing demonstrated that NASA could plan future missions with the expectation that astronauts could land near scientifically significant sites. Conrad and Bean brought along the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package, a set of nuclear-powered scientific instruments, as well as the first color television camera taken to the lunar surface by an Apollo mission. However, transmission was lost when Bean accidentally pointed the camera at the Sun, destroying its sensor. During their second moonwalk, they visited Surveyor 3 and removed parts for return to Earth. The Lunar Module Intrepid lifted off from the Moon on November 20 and docked with the command module, which then began its journey back to Earth. The Apollo 12 mission concluded with a successful splashdown on November 24.
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| An Apollo 12 moon landing cover from "SpaceCraft Swanson", postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on November 19, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 12 moon landing cover from the “Space City Cover Society”, postmarked at Houston, Texas, with a machine cancel on November 19, 1969. |
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| Photo: An image of the Apollo 12 landing site, located in the Ocean of Storms on the moon's western side. |
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| An Apollo 12 moonlanding cover from "NASA Manned Spacecraft Center Stamp Club", featuring a lunar chart segment repurposed as a cover, postmarked at Houston, Texas with a machine cancel on November 19, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 12 moon landing cover from "The Manned Spaceflight Cover Society", postmarked at Houston, Texas with a machine cancel on November 19, 1969, signed by Charles Conrad, Richard Gordon and Alan Bean. |
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| Photo: An Apollo 12 astronaut is photographed walking on the moon's surface during an EVA (extravehicular activity). |
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| An Apollo 12 moon landing cover from "Thermograph", featuring an illustration of Apollo 12 moon-walk, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on November 19, 1969. Following the planting of a U.S. flag on the Moon, Conrad and Bean spent a significant portion of their first EVA setting up the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP). This EVA lasted nearly 4 hours. |
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| An Apollo 12 moon landing cover from "Astro Covers", featuring a photograph of an Apollo 12 astronaut setting up experiment on the lunar surface, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on November 19, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 12 moon landing cover featuring the lunar module touched down just 600 feet away from Surveyor 3, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on November 20, 1969. |
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| Photo: An Apollo 12 astronaut examines Surveyor 3, which landed on the Moon's surface on April 20, 1967. |
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| An Apollo 12 moon landing cover featuring a photograph of an Apollo 12 astronaut examining Surveyor 3, the unmanned spacecraft that had landed in the Ocean of Storms more than two years earlier. The cover was postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on November 20, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 12 moon landing cover featuring a photograph of Pete Conrad preparing the equipment for the "ALSEP" package experiments to be left on the Moon, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on November 20, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 12 lunar lift-off cover featuring the Lunar Module, Intrepid, ascended from the moon, leaving its descent stage behind on the lunar surface as intended. The cover was postmarked at Houston, Texas, with a machine cancel on November 20, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 12 cover from "Astro Covers", featuring an illustration of the Lunar Module, Intrepid, entered orbit of the moon to dock with the Command Module, Yankee Clipper. This cover was postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on November 20, 1969. |
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| Photo: Commander Charles Conrad aboard the Command Module on the return journey to Earth after docking with Alan Bean. This image was released to the press a few days following the Apollo 12 crew's return. |
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| A postcard featuring the USS Hornet carrier on the front, featuring a magenta a "Morris Beck" rubber-stamped cachet on the back, postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a hand cancel on November 24, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 12 recovery cover from "Ekas", postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a machine cancel on November 24, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 12 recovery cover featuring "Apollo 12 U.S. Navy Recovery" cachet along with an illustration of the splashdown scene, postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a machine cancel on November 24, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 12 Captain's Cover from the USS Hornet, postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a hand cancel on November 24, 1969, signed by Richard Gordon, Charles Conrad, Alan Bean and Captain Carl J. Seiberlich. The hand cancel is a less common variation with the AM time slug positioned above the year "1969". This cover is accompanied by a typed letter from Captain Carl J. Seiberlich. |
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| An Apollo 12 recovery cover featuring a "NASA Recovery Team" cachet, postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a hand cancel on November 24, 1969, signed by Charles Conrad, Richard Gordon, and Alan Bean. |
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| An Apollo 12 recovery cover featuring a "Recovery Team" cachet and a magenta "Morris Beck" rubber-stamped cachet, postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a hand cancel on November 24, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 12 recovery cover postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a hand cancel on November 24, 1969, featuring a hand-painted cachet by artist Detlev Van Ravenswaay.
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| Photo: The Apollo 12 crew conversing with President Nixon while in their quarantine station on the USS Hornet. |
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| An Apollo 12 recovery cover with a printed “Morris Beck B821” cachet, postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a machine cancel on November 24, 1969, signed by helicopter recovery pilot Commander Warren E. Aut and Captain Carl J. Seiberlich. |
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| An Apollo 12 recovery cover, featuring a magenta "Morris Beck" rubber-stamped cachet, postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a machine cancel on November 24, 1969, signed by Richard Gordon, Charles Conrad, Alan Bean, Captain Carl J. Seiberlich, helicopter recovery pilot Commander Warren E. Aut and NASA recovery team leader, John C. Storesifer. |
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| An Apollo 12 recovery cover, featuring a magenta "Morris Beck" rubber-stamped cachet, postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a machine cancel on November 24, 1969, signed by Richard Gordon, Alan Bean, and Charles Conrad. This hand cancel is a rare variation that omits the AM time slug. |
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Photo: The Apollo 12 crew in their quarantine station holds up a "BEAT ARMY" sign in the window. The sign is a playful reference to the longstanding rivalry between the United States Military Academy (Army) and the United States Naval Academy (Navy). This rivalry is particularly highlighted during the annual Army-Navy football game. The sign reflects the spirit and camaraderie among the Apollo 12 crew, who were all former naval officers, and their support for the Navy in this competitive context.
Desert Sun, Volume 43, Number 100, 28 November 1969 |
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| An Apollo 12 recovery cover postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a hand cancel on November 24, 1969, featuring a hand-painted cachet by artist Alec Bartos. This hand cancel is a rare variation that omits the AM time slug. |
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| An Apollo 12 recovery cover featuring a magenta "Morris Beck" rubber-stamped cachet, postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a hand cancel on November 24, 1969, signed by Captain Carl J. Seiberlich and Commander V. E. Sprudley. The hand cancel is a less common variation with the AM time slug positioned above the year "1969". Also postmarked with a machine cancel aboard USS Hornet on November 24, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 12 recovery cover featuring a magenta "Morris Beck" rubber-stamped cachet, postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a machine cancel on July 24, 1969 (Apollo 11 recovery date). Also postmarked with a hand cancel aboard USS Hornet on November 24, 1969. |
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An Apollo 12 Flown Cover from "Bishop" featuring the mission insignia, postmarked at Houston, Texas, with a hand cancel on December 10, 1969 (the day the crew left quarantine), signed by Charles Conrad, Dick Gordon and Alan Bean. This cover was originally from the family collection of Richard Gordon. Gordon has written "Flown To The Moon RG" at top left, and "4 of 87" at bottom left. He has certified on the verso: "This envelope was flown/ to the moon on Apollo 15/ Richard F. Gordon Jr". It comes with a printed card that match the cover with the text: "The Accompanying Cover/ is # 4 of 87/ Carried to the Moon." It is signed and dated: "Richard F. Gordon Jr/ 9-20-80". A description of the Apollo 12 mission is printed at the back of the card.
This is one of the lesser-known stories related to philately from the Apollo missions. Richard Gordon had prepared eighty-seven mission insignia covers, similar to the Type I insurance covers, to take with him on the flight, but they were ultimately left behind. As a personal favor to Gordon, the backup commander for Apollo 15, Jim Irwin volunteered to carry them to the Moon on Apollo 15. Consequently, they were able to reach the Moon and return.
- Heritage Auctions. |
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| Photo: The Apollo 12 crew and their wives visited former President and Mrs. Lyndon Johnson at their ranch in Texas on January 14, 1970. |
(Reference from
Apollo 12)
