Editing Apollo 12 (section)

== Crew and key Mission Control personnel ==
{{Spaceflight crew
|terminology = Astronaut
|position1 = Commander
|crew1_up = [[Pete Conrad|Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr.]]
|flights1_up = Third
|position2 = Command Module Pilot
|crew2_up = [[Richard F. Gordon Jr.]]
|flights2_up = Second and last
|position3 = Lunar Module Pilot
|crew3_up = [[Alan Bean|Alan L. Bean]]
|flights3_up = First
}}

The commander of the all-[[United States Navy|Navy]] Apollo 12 crew was [[Pete Conrad|Charles "Pete" Conrad]], who was 39 years old at the time of the mission. After receiving a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from [[Princeton University]] in 1953, he became a naval aviator, and completed [[United States Naval Test Pilot School]] at [[Patuxent River Naval Air Station]]. He was selected in the [[NASA Astronaut Group 2|second group of astronauts]] in 1962, and flew on [[Gemini 5]] in 1965, and as command pilot of [[Gemini 11]] in 1966. Command Module Pilot [[Richard F. Gordon Jr.|Richard "Dick" Gordon]], 40 years old at the time of Apollo 12, also became a naval aviator in 1953, following graduation from the [[University of Washington]] with a degree in chemistry, and completed test pilot school at Patuxent River. Selected as a [[NASA Astronaut Group 3|Group 3]] astronaut in 1963, he flew with Conrad on Gemini 11.{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=327}}{{sfn|Press Kit|pp=75–78}}

The original Lunar Module pilot assigned to work with Conrad was [[Clifton Williams|Clifton C. Williams Jr.]], who was killed in October 1967 when the [[Northrop T-38 Talon|T-38]] he was flying crashed near [[Tallahassee]]. When forming his crew, Conrad had wanted [[Alan Bean|Alan L. Bean]], a former student of his at the test pilot school, but had been told by Director of Flight Crew Operations [[Deke Slayton]] that Bean was unavailable due to an assignment to the [[Apollo Applications Program]]. After Williams's death, Conrad asked for Bean again, and this time Slayton yielded.{{sfn|Chaikin 1995|pp=246–248}} Bean, 37 years old when the mission flew, had graduated from the [[University of Texas]] in 1955 with a degree in aeronautical engineering. Also a naval aviator, he was selected alongside Gordon in 1963, and first flew in space on Apollo 12.{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=327}}{{sfn|Press Kit|p=79}}  The three Apollo 12 crew members had backed up [[Apollo 9]] earlier in 1969.{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|pp=223–224}}

The Apollo 12 backup crew was [[David Scott|David R. Scott]] as commander, [[Alfred Worden|Alfred M. Worden]] as Command Module pilot, and [[James Irwin|James B. Irwin]] as Lunar Module pilot. They became the crew of [[Apollo 15]].{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|pp=327–328, 426}} For Apollo, a third crew of astronauts, known as the support crew, was designated in addition to the prime and backup crews used on projects Mercury and Gemini. Slayton created the support crews because [[James McDivitt]], who would command Apollo 9, believed that, with preparation going on in facilities across the US, meetings that needed a member of the flight crew would be missed. Support crew members were to assist as directed by the mission commander.{{sfn|Slayton & Cassutt|1994|p=184}} Usually low in seniority, they assembled the mission's rules, [[flight plan]], and checklists, and kept them updated;<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hersch|first=Matthew|date=July 19, 2009|title=The fourth crewmember|journal=[[Air & Space/Smithsonian]]|access-date=October 4, 2019|url=https://www.airspacemag.com/space/the-fourth-crewmember-37046329/}}</ref>{{sfn|Brooks, Grimwood, & Swenson|1979|p=261}} For Apollo 12, they were [[Gerald P. Carr]], [[Edward Gibson|Edward G. Gibson]] and [[Paul J. Weitz]].{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=614}} [[Flight controller#Flight director|Flight directors]] were [[Gerry Griffin]], first shift, [[Pete Frank]], second shift, [[Clifford E. Charlesworth]], third shift, and [[Milton Windler]], fourth shift.{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=566}} Flight directors during Apollo had a one-sentence job description, "The flight director may take any actions necessary for crew safety and mission success."<ref>{{cite news|title=A legendary tale, well-told|access-date=October 5, 2019|last=Williams|first=Mike|url=https://news.rice.edu/2012/09/13/a-legendary-tale-well-told/|publisher=Rice University Office of Public Affairs|date=September 13, 2012|archive-date=August 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817125432/https://news.rice.edu/2012/09/13/a-legendary-tale-well-told/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Flight controller#Spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM)|Capsule communicators]] (CAPCOMs) were Scott, Worden, Irwin, Carr, Gibson, Weitz and [[Don Lind]].{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=577}}