20. Surface of the Moon — Astronaut
Oceanus Procellarum, Moon

Charles Conrad captured this 3-D view of astronaut Alan Bean performing scientific tasks on the Moon during the Apollo 12 mission. Bean is holding a drill core tube used for extracting deep soil samples. The large square object at right is a tool carrier. The bulky pressure suit he is wearing weighs 190 pounds on Earth but only 30 pounds on the Moon. Apollo 12 landed in November 1969 in eastern Oceanus Procellarum, a basaltic lava plain that formed about 3.1 billion years ago. A small crater and several small boulders are visible at left.

Apollo 12 images AS12-49-7318 and AS12-49-7319.

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