The Artist of Apollo 12

By Nancy Atkinson - November 14, 2009 08:50 AM UTC | Space Exploration

40 years ago today, Apollo 12 launched on their mission to the Moon. On board was Pete Conrad, Dick Gordon and Alan Bean. Bean is a gifted artist who has shared his experiences on the Moon like no other astronaut has through his paintings, which offer a unique look at both real and imagined events during all the different astronaut's moonwalks. (

Check out his website

to see a gallery of his amazing artwork.) And enjoy this great interview that Miles O'Brien did recently with Alan Bean.

NASA also has an

interactive Apollo 12 feature.

Interview+ ▶ Our latest video — free on Patreon 4 Years In, We Still Have No Idea What JWST's Biggest Discovery Is. Here's Why It's Awesome The extended edition: ad-free, with extra content. Free to watch — no account needed. ▶ Watch it free

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com