Lightning Hit Apollo 12. Which Readings Could Houston Trust?

H001 | On November 14, 1969, Apollo 12 lifted off into an overcast sky. Thirty-six seconds later, the Saturn V was struck. Fifty-two seconds in, it was struck again. The caution panel filled with warnings, the fuel cells dropped offline, and Mission Control's data stopped making sense. Join Eddie and Alma as they follow the launch that almost failed, the flight controller who recognized a pattern from an overnight test, and the four words that brought the data back: "Try SCE to auxiliary." Quick facts: Apollo 12 was hit by two electrical discharges, at 36.5 and 52 seconds after liftoff. John Aaron's SCE-to-auxiliary call restored useful telemetry. The crew and Mission Control rebuilt confidence system by system before leaving Earth orbit. Pete Conrad and Alan Bean then landed in the Ocean of Storms, within walking distance of Surveyor 3. Patreon:   / israeliguyreacts   Buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/israeliguyu History Blur is presented by Eddie, with AI-generated narration by Alma. Historical photographs, audio and archival footage are identified and sourced; explanatory graphics and illustrations are modern visualizations, not archival recordings. Images and film (NASA, US government works, public domain) NASA / Johnson Space Center: Apollo 12 launch and Mission Control footage (via Internet Archive) NASA Image and Video Library: AS12-47-6878, AS12-48-7133, AS12-48-7135, AS12-48-7160, AS12-50-7326, AS12-51-7507, S69-22728, S69-22897, S69-38992, S69-56702, S69-58006, S69-58054, S69-58884, S69-59458, S69-59479, S69-59525, S69-60068, S69-62290, S69-62293 "Blue Marble" Earth: Apollo 17 crew, 1972 (AS17-148-22727, NASA; public domain) NASA JSC Oral History Project: John Aaron interview, January 18, 2000 Apollo 12 onboard voice transcript and mission records (NASA history; US government works) Graphics: original explanatory schematics by History Blur, not archival imagery. Sound: typewriter recording by lonemonk (freesound.org, sound 47044, via Wikimedia Commons), Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/.... Music: "Long Note One" and "Dark Fog" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/.... Research Apollo 12 Flight Journal (NASA history): https://apollojournals.org/afj/ap12fj... and https://apollojournals.org/afj/ap12fj... Apollo 12 onboard voice transcript, command module (NASA): https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploa... NASA JSC Oral History, John Aaron, January 18, 2000 (NASA): https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploa... Analysis of the Apollo 12 Lightning Incident (NASA, February 1970; via klabs.org history mirror): https://klabs.org/history/ntrs_docs/m... Apollo 12 Mission Report (NASA): https://www.ibiblio.org/apollo/Docume... NASA, "Lightning Strikes Twice": https://science.nasa.gov/resource/lig... NASA, "55 Years Ago: Apollo 12 Makes a Pinpoint Landing on the Moon": https://www.nasa.gov/history/55-years... Apollo 12 16mm onboard film (Internet Archive): https://archive.org/details/Apollo121... History Blur: true stories that are hard to believe happened. Chapters 00:00 Lightning Strikes Twice 00:20 The Second Moon Landing 00:33 The First Strike: 36.5 Seconds 01:01 The Second Strike: 52 Seconds 01:23 Unreliable Data 01:43 Bean Reads the Gauges 02:37 The Test Aaron Remembered 03:36 "Try SCE to Auxiliary" 04:14 What SCE Actually Did 05:08 Checks Before the Moon 06:13 Walking to Surveyor 3 07:18 The Rule That Came Out of It 08:04 The Detail at the Right Moment 08:24 Closing and support