So yes, the launch of Apollo 12 was almost a cautionary tale. The weather was uncooperative. The atmosphere used the rocket like a spear for lightning. The cockpit lit up with warnings, then went dark. A second strike could have frightened the most stoic crew into reaching for abort calls. Instead, three men kept flying, a room full of engineers kept thinking, and one controller reached into his head for a solution that no manual would offer in bold print. The result was a mission that did what it set out to do and left a permanent phrase in the vocabulary. When things go sideways, you want people around who know where the SCE switch lives.

Ver todos los episodios