Surveyor program

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Photograph of Surveyor(3) lunar landing spacecraft taken by Apollo 12 astronauts (descriptions added). (NASA)

The Surveyor Program consisted of unmanned spaceflights to the Moon, with soft landings, without returning (although Surveyor 6 became the first spacecraft to lift off the moon).

It was initiated and carried out to demonstrate the feasibility of soft landing on the Moon. This was done in preparation for the Apollo Program. The program was implemented by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and performed several other services beyond its primary goal. The ability of a spacecraft to make midcourse corrections was demonstrated, and the landers carried instruments to assist with evaluation of the suitability of their landing sites for manned Apollo landings.

Several Surveyor spacecraft had robotic shovels which were designed to test lunar soil mechanics. Before this project, it was unknown how deep the dust on the moon was. If the dust was too deep, then no astronaut could land. The Surveyor program proved that landings were possible. Some of the Surveyors also had alpha scattering insturments and magnets, which helped determine the chemical composition of the soil.

There were seven Surveyor missions; five were successful. Surveyors 2 and 4 failed. Each consisted of a single unmanned spacecraft designed and built by Hughes Aircraft Company.

Location of Surveyor missions on the Moon

[edit] Mission list

• Surveyor 1 - Launched May 30, 1966; landed on Oceanus Procellarum, June 2, 1966
• Surveyor 2 - Launched September 20, 1966; crashed near Copernicus crater, September 23, 1966
• Surveyor 3 - Launched April 17, 1967; landed on Oceanus Procellarum, April 20, 1967
• Surveyor 4 - Launched July 14, 1967; crashed on Sinus Medii, July 17, 1967
• Surveyor 5 - Launched September 3, 1967; landed on Mare Tranquillitatis, September 11, 1967
• Surveyor 6 - Launched November 7, 1967; landed on Sinus Medii, November 10, 1967
• Surveyor 7 - Launched January 7, 1968; landed near Tycho crater, January 10, 1968

Apollo 12 landed within walking distance of the Surveyor 3 landing site.

[edit] External links

• Surveyor Program Results (PDF) 1969
• Analysis of Surveyor 3 material and photographs returned by Apollo 12 (PDF) 1972

[edit] See also

• Ranger program
• Lunar Orbiter program
• Apollo program
• Luna programme

 

Surveyor
Previous mission:	Ranger	Next mission:	None, see contemporaneous program Lunar Orbiters
Surveyor 1 | Surveyor 2 | Surveyor 3 | Surveyor 4 | Surveyor 5 | Surveyor 6 | Surveyor 7