All articles tagged with #apollo 12
Apollo 12 was struck by lightning twice within the first 52 seconds of flight, causing chaotic telemetry and warning lights until EECOM John Aaron recognized the anomaly and directed 'SCE to Aux,' a fix Alan Bean applied that restored data and allowed the mission to continue to the Moon.
Apollo 12’s Saturn V was struck by lightning twice within the first minute of flight, causing telemetry to turn to garbage. Flight controller John Aaron recognized a low‑voltage failure pattern he had seen before and advised the crew to switch the signal conditioning equipment (SCE) to auxiliary. That obscure four‑word instruction—“Try SCE to auxiliary”—restored usable telemetry, allowed ground controllers to assess the spacecraft, and enabled the crew to realign systems and continue toward the Moon; the incident also led NASA to tighten launch-weather rules to prevent future close calls.