In 1969, Apollo 12 began broadcasting from the Moon, but Alan Bean accidentally aimed its camera at the Sun and killed the live TV feed

During the Apollo 12 mission, astronaut Alan Bean mistakenly aimed the color television camera at the sun, leading to overheating and the loss of live color transmissions from the moon. Although this incident curtailed real-time broadcasts, a wealth of still photos and 16mm film preserved the lunar journey. As a result, NASA implemented updated handling procedures for cameras in subsequent space explorations.