Ocean of Storms
Apollo 12 · November 1969 · on the Moon, 3.01° S, 23.42° W
A pinpoint landing next to the robotic Surveyor 3 probe, which the astronauts visited on foot. The Earth hangs high in the east.
What is there
Apollo 12 descent stage (Lunar Module, NASA)
The bottom half of the Apollo 12 Lunar Module, still standing where it landed: it served as the launch pad for the top half, which carried the crew back up to the Command Module in orbit.
Apollo 12 flag (Flag, NASA)
Still standing: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter photos show its shadow moving as the Sun moves. A horizontal rod along the top holds it out, since there is no wind. Its colours have most likely bleached white in the sunlight.
Apollo 12 ALSEP central station (Experiment, NASA)
The hub of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package: it gathered every experiment's data and radioed it to Earth, under its sunshield, through the antenna on its mast. The stations sent data for up to eight years, until NASA switched them all off in September 1977.
Apollo 12 nuclear power generator (Experiment, NASA)
A SNAP-27 radioisotope generator: plutonium-238 heats it and its fins (around 400 °C) turn the heat into about 70 watts of electricity, day and night, for the experiments. Its fuel has been decaying since; it still gives off a little heat.
Apollo 12 passive seismometer (Experiment, NASA)
It listened for moonquakes, meteorite impacts and the crashes of spent rocket stages, under a silver blanket spread out to keep its temperature steady. Together the Apollo seismometers found the Moon rings like a bell for an hour after a hit, and revealed its crust, mantle and small core.
Apollo 12 surface magnetometer (Experiment, NASA)
Three sensors on arms a metre long, measuring the magnetic field in every direction. The Moon has no global field now, but its rocks are magnetised in patches: it once had one, made by a molten core.
Apollo 12 solar wind spectrometer (Experiment, NASA)
It measured the solar wind — the stream of charged particles from the Sun — arriving at the Moon's surface, which has no magnetic field or air to keep it off.
Apollo 12 ion detector (Experiment, NASA)
The suprathermal ion detector counted charged particles around the Moon: from the solar wind, from the Earth's magnetic tail when the Moon passes through it, and from gas the astronauts' equipment released.
Stand at Ocean of Storms in Stellingo: the ground is shaped from orbiter elevation maps and photos, the hardware is placed where it really is, and the sky above — the Sun, the Earth, the stars — is the real one, at any date you choose.