Liftoff and the journey home

Intrepid’s ascent stage carried Conrad and Bean back into orbit, where they rejoined Gordon. The empty module was then deliberately crashed into the Moon so the ALSEP seismometer could record an artificial quake.

Intrepid’s impact set the Moon ringing like a bell — the vibrations lasted over an hour and surprised geologists, giving them their first data on the Moon’s internal structure.

Yankee Clipper headed for Earth and on 24 November 1969 splashed down in the Pacific near the carrier USS Hornet. On impact a camera came loose and struck Bean on the forehead — the mission’s only injury. The crew then spent 21 days in quarantine in case they had brought back unknown microbes from the Moon.

◉ Real photograph