 Early on
the morning of November 24, Apollo 12 splashed down some 600
kilometers (375 miles) east of Pago Pago, 3.5 kilometers (2 miles) from the
recovery ship U.S.S. Hornet. The concern over the parachute pyrotechnics being
damaged by the lightning strike was unfounded. The landing was rough, however.
Apparently Yankee Clipper hit a rising wave as it swung on its parachutes hard
enough to dislodge a 16-mm movie camera from its bracket and slam it into Alan
Bean's forehead, momentarily stunning him and opening a 1-inch (2.5-centimeter)
cut, which Conrad bandaged.
 The recovery swimmers soon arrived, tossed respirators and coveralls -
replacing the biological isolation garments that the Apollo 11 crew had found
so objectionable - into the command module, then assisted the astronauts into
the raft. The astronauts had a four-day trip aboard ship to Hawaii, then a
nine-hour flight to Houston. On the morning of November 29, Conrad, Bean, and
Gordon entered the Lunar Receiving Laboratory for their 11-day stay in
quarantine.
 Apollo 12 was a complete success on many fronts. The procedural changes
incorporated to improve landing accuracy had allowed Conrad to put Intrepid
down within sight of Surveyor III, exactly as intended. Now astronauts could go
places the scientists wanted them to. Lunar exploration had been easy for both
Conrad and Bean. They had oxygen to spare when they returned with nearly 75
pounds (34 kilograms) of samples
from the surface of Oceanus Procellarum. The surface experiments they had set
up were returning streams of data, and scientists agreed the astronauts had
done a remarkable job.
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