Editing Apollo 12 (section)

===Lunar orbit and Moon landing===
[[File:Lunar module AS12-51-7507.jpg|right|thumb|[[Lunar Module]] ''Intrepid'' above the Moon. The small crater in the foreground is [[Ammonius (crater)|Ammonius]]; the large crater at right is [[Herschel (lunar crater)|Herschel]]. Photograph by [[Richard F. Gordon Jr.]] on board the [[Apollo command and service module#Command module (CM)|Command Module]] ''Yankee Clipper''.]]

Apollo 12 entered a lunar orbit of {{convert|170.2|by|61.66|nmi|sigfig=4}} with an SPS burn of 352.25 seconds at mission time 83:25:26.36. On the first lunar orbit, there was a television transmission that resulted in good-quality video of the lunar surface. On the third lunar orbit, there was another burn to circularize the craft's orbit to {{convert|66.1|by|54.59|nmi|sigfig=4}}, and on the next revolution, preparations began for the lunar landing. The CSM and LM undocked at 107:54:02.3; a half hour later there was a burn by the CSM to separate them.{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=334}} The 14.4 second burn by some of the CSM's thrusters meant that the two craft would be {{convert|2.2|nmi|sigfig=2}} apart when the LM began the burn to move to a lower orbit in preparation for landing on the Moon.{{sfn|Harland 2011|p=200}}

The LM's Descent Propulsion System began a 29-second burn at 109:23:39.9 to move the craft to the lower orbit, from which the 717-second powered descent to the lunar surface began at 110:20:38.1.{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=334}} Conrad had trained to expect a pattern of craters known as "the Snowman" to be visible when the craft underwent "pitchover", with the Surveyor crater in its center, but had feared he would see nothing recognizable. He was astonished to see the Snowman right where it should be, meaning they were directly on course. He took over manual control, planning to land the LM, as he had in simulations, in an area near the Surveyor crater that had been dubbed "Pete's Parking Lot", but found it rougher than expected. He had to maneuver,{{sfn|Chaikin 1995|pp=254–260}} and landed the LM
at 110:32:36.2 (06:54:36 UTC on November 19, 1969), just {{convert|535|ft}} from the Surveyor probe.{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|pp=334–335}} This achieved one objective of the mission, to perform a precision landing near the Surveyor craft.<ref name = "second">{{cite web|url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_12a_Summary.htm |title=Apollo 12 – The Sixth Mission: The Second Lunar Landing |publisher=NASA |location=US |access-date=June 26, 2019}}</ref>

The [[Selenographic coordinates|lunar coordinates]] of the landing site were 3.01239° S latitude, 23.42157° W longitude.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/landing-missions/sites.cfm |title=Apollo landing sites |work=The Apollo Program |publisher=[[National Air and Space Museum]] |access-date=February 10, 2021 |archive-date=July 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711060534/https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/landing-missions/sites.cfm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The landing caused high velocity sandblasting of the Surveyor probe. It was later determined that the sandblasting removed more dust than it delivered onto the Surveyor, because the probe was covered by a thin layer that gave it a tan hue as observed by the astronauts, and every portion of the surface exposed to the direct sandblasting was lightened back toward the original white color through the removal of lunar dust.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Immer |first1=Christopher A. |last2=Metzger |first2=Philip |author-link2=Philip T. Metzger |last3=Hintze |first3=Paul E. |last4=Nick|first4=Andrew |last5=Horan |first5=Ryan |date=February 2011 |title=Apollo 12 Lunar Module Exhaust Plume Impingement on Lunar ''Surveyor III'' |journal=[[Icarus (journal)|Icarus]] |volume=211 |issue=2 |pages=1089–1102 |location=Amsterdam |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |bibcode=2011Icar..211.1089I |doi=10.1016/j.icarus.2010.11.013 |display-authors=3}}</ref>