# Did NASA stage \[some footage from the Apollo 12\] moon landing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886 "2014-09-18T23:56:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/1 "2014-09-18T23:56:17Z")
Sorry for the clickbait: I couldn’t resist. So the Apollo 12 astronauts, in an effort to get some better footage for TV, brought along an experimental color TV camera. Astronaut Alan Bean accidentally pointed it at the sun, frying the sensor. But NASA didn’t want to waste perfectly good audio, so – and this is what I’m trying to confirm – they had actors recreate what was happening on the audio for the TV broadcast. Did this “dramatization” footage survive? Was it actually NASA, or one of the TV networks who did it? Was the dramatization of an actual EVA, or of the astronauts in the command module? Did the networks try to pass it off as legitimate, or did they make it clear that the actual video was lost? * * * Just in case it’s not clear, I’m not a moon hoaxer, we obviously did land on the moon, people who think the moon landing was faked are idiots, please don’t try to start a moon hoax debate in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/2 "2014-09-18T23:59:29Z")
[Everybody else is over here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=734163&highlight=moon) ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/3 "2014-09-19T00:04:43Z")
YES, they staged it on the moon. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/4 "2014-09-19T00:05:37Z")
Yes, obviously they did. You have the shadows, you have flags and gloves and props and such. The Mythbusters pretty much proved that it was all staged, filmed on site. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/5 "2014-09-19T00:08:26Z")
Guys, take a deep breath and re-read the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/6 "2014-09-19T00:10:11Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > Guys, take a deep breath and re-read the OP. Or read the opening question… **Did NASA stage the moon landing?** ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/7 "2014-09-19T00:28:03Z")
The OP is asking if, during the course of the real Moon landing, a color camera was rendered inoperable, leading to a subsequent decision back on Earth to take the recorded audio and re-create a color video of whatever the color camera was going to record. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/8 "2014-09-19T00:34:18Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The OP is asking if, during the course of the real Moon landing, a color camera was rendered inoperable, leading to a subsequent decision back on Earth to take the recorded audio and re-create a color video of whatever the color camera was going to record. Thank you for stating this so succinctly. Carry on. people, but read the OP carefully. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/9 "2014-09-19T01:01:38Z")
Thank you, Randy Seltzer, for the absolute final and inarguable proof that too many posters don’t bother to read past the title. That’s one giant leap for mankind. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/10 "2014-09-19T01:44:48Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > Astronaut Alan Bean accidentally pointed it at the sun, frying the sensor. But NASA didn’t want to waste perfectly good audio, so – and this is what I’m trying to confirm – they had actors recreate what was happening on the audio for the TV broadcast. > > Did this “dramatization” footage survive? Was it actually NASA, or one of the TV networks who did it? Was the dramatization of an actual EVA, or of the astronauts in the command module? Did the networks try to pass it off as legitimate, or did they make it clear that the actual video was lost? Sorry for the lack of citations, but here are my own memories of that day. I was 15 at the time - - Some sort of problem developed in the camera. I do not remember the nature of the problem, but it persisted despite all attempts at repair. Finally, after everything else had been tried and there was nothing left to lose, an astronaut (maybe Bean, maybe the other guy) whacked it with a hammer, and it worked fine for a while before totally dying later on. This thread is the first time I’ve ever heard of it being a dramatization. The OP should consider the possibility that the reason he can’t confirm the dramatization, is that it was all real, and nothing got dramatized. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/11 "2014-09-19T01:57:05Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > Sorry for the clickbait: I couldn’t resist. In order to prevent this thread from continuing to be derailed by people who jump in without reading the OP or subsequent posts, I’ve edited the title. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/12 "2014-09-19T02:01:54Z")
It seems that my memory may be faulty: > [@space.com](#): > > The crew faced problems as the first spacewalk progressed. Bean accidentally fried the TV camera lens whenpointing it toward the sun, leaving the mission with no usable live video. > > Then, Conrad struggled in deploying a nuclear-powered experiment package; he couldn’t free the plutonium cask from its case. When repeated attempts proved unsuccessful, Conrad reluctantly tried hitting it with a hammer. Thefuel element sprung free, and Bean quipped, “Don’t come to the moon without a hammer.” ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/13 "2014-09-19T04:04:16Z")
color vid or it didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/14 "2014-09-19T04:18:11Z")
I seem to recall this happening, too. ABC television may have done it. They didn’t try to fool audiences into believing they were watching live footage. It was general knowledge that Bean had fried the color camera on Apollo 12. It wasn’t any Hollywood special effects type of footage. Just a couple of guys in spacesuits hacking around on what was obviously a soundstage. And I believe there was a caption on the screen which said “Recreated astronaut activity” or something like that. All of this is from my fuzzy memory at 12 years old, and I can’t find any information online, so this is purely anecdotal. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/15 "2014-09-19T04:38:09Z")
I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning and watched Apollo 12 live. I was mad as hell when Bean burned the camera out ( I have since forgiven him.) All of the networks did simulations of the moonwalk, and they were clearly labeled so. I was a 15 year old space nut, and a simulation wouldn’t fool me for a second. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/16 "2014-09-19T13:43:39Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Thank you, Randy Seltzer, for the absolute final and inarguable proof that too many posters don’t bother to read past the title. That’s one giant leap for mankind. Or proof that some other posters can’t craft a coherent thread title which accurately describes their OP. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/17 "2014-09-19T14:23:18Z")
So, to sum up, NASA didn’t stage reenactments of the Apollo 12 lunar explorations, but some television networks did. Okay. Let’s move on. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/18 "2014-09-19T14:52:36Z")
Let’s face it - if NASA wanted to do a reenactment, they would have shipped the sound stage to the Moon first, just to get the gravity looking right. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/19 "2014-09-19T15:10:45Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Or proof that some other posters can’t craft a coherent thread title which accurately describes their OP. :rolleyes: It was a well-crafted OP. Not his fault you couldn’t be bothered to read it. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886/20 "2014-09-19T16:03:28Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > It seems that my memory may be faulty: > > [[QUOTE=space.com](http://QUOTE=space.com)] > The crew faced problems as the first spacewalk progressed. Bean accidentally fried the TV camera lens whenpointing it toward the sun, leaving the mission with no usable live video. > > Then, Conrad struggled in deploying a nuclear-powered experiment package; he couldn’t free the plutonium cask from its case. When repeated attempts proved unsuccessful, Conrad reluctantly tried hitting it with a hammer. Thefuel element sprung free, and Bean quipped, “Don’t come to the moon without a hammer.” [/QUOTE] Also, don’t forget to bring extra plutonium! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-stage-some-footage-from-the-apollo-12-moon-landing/698886.md?page=2)