299. [Apollo 12] ALAN BEAN SETTING UP THE FIRST NUCLEAR GENERATOR NEAR THE LM INTREPID Pete Conrad, 14-24 November 1969, EVA 1 Printed 1969. Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS12-46-6787]. With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA AS12-46-6787" in red in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas). 20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.). Historical context Powering the first long-term lunar scientific outpost. In this iconic image featured in LIFE magazine, Alan Bean removes the protective dome from the Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) fuel cask, placing it aside as he and Pete Conrad prepare to deploy the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP). These instruments would measure the Moon's seismic activity, solar wind flux, and magnetic field, transmitting long-term data back to Earth. This mission marked the first complete nuclear-powered ALSEP station set up by astronauts on the Moon, a milestone in lunar exploration. From the mission transcript at the moment the photograph was taken: 116:42:40 Bean: I guess we'll just have to make allowances for things like that when we build them. They sure are going to get dirty. (Pause) Okay, I'm unlocking the cask dome, right now. It unlocked perfectly. Shaking it down, trying to get it off. 116:43:00 Conrad: There you go. Literature LIFE magazine, December 12, 1969, p. 36