The Apollo 12 mission was the first opportunity in the scientific exploration of the Moon to sample extensively the rocks within half a kilometer of the landing site.

Command Module Pilot Richard Gordon Jr. remained in lunar orbit as the Apollo 12 Lunar Module landed on the northwest rim of the Surveyor Crater in the Ocean of Storms. The landing site was at 23 degrees 4 minutes west longitude and 3 degrees 2 minutes south latitude, approximately 120 kilometers (75 miles) southeast of Lansberg Crater and due north of the center of Mare Cognitum. The landing site is near a ray associated with the Copernicus Crater, which is approximately 370 kilometers (230 miles) to the north, and is characterized by a distinctive cluster of craters ranging from 50 to 400 meters in diameter.

During two moon walks totaling 7 hours and 45 minutes, the astronauts collected lunar soil and additional surface samples along a geologic traverse. Commander Charles Conrad Jr. and Lunar Module Pilot Alan Bean obtained material from the bottom of a shallow trench and brought back several items from the Surveyor 3 spacecraft. The astronauts caught some of the solar wind in an aluminum foil, and they took photographs of the lunar surface and crew activities with 70-mm Hasselblad cameras and a close-up stereoscopic camera.