Surveyor (1966 - 1968)

The Surveyor probes were the first U.S. spacecraft to land safely on the Moon. The images above show the Surveyor spacecraft at the beach and a view of the footpad of Surveyor 5. The trench to the right of the footpad was formed during the landing. The main objectives of the Surveyors were to obtain close-up images of the lunar surface and to determine if the terrain was safe for manned landings. Each Surveyor was equipped with a television camera. In addition, Surveyors 3 and 7 each carried a soil mechanics surface sampler scoop which dug trenches and was used for soil mechanics tests and Surveyors 5, 6, and 7 had magnets attached to the footpads and an alpha scattering instrument for chemical analysis of the lunar material.

Surveyor 1

Launched 30 May 1966
Landed 02 June 1966, 06:17:37 UT
Latitude 2.45 S, Longitude 316.79 E - Flamsteed P

Surveyor 2

Launched 20 September 1966
Crashed on Moon 22 September 1966
Vernier engine failed to ignite - southeast of Copernicus Crater

Surveyor 3

Launched 17 April 1967
Landed 20 April 1967, 00:04:53 UT
Latitude 2.94 S, Longitude 336.66 E - Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms)

Surveyor 4

Launched 14 July 1967
Radio contact lost 17 July 1967
2.5 minutes from touchdown - Sinus Medii

Surveyor 5

Launched 08 September 1967
Landed 11 September 1967, 00:46:44 UT
Latitude 1.41 N, Longitude 23.18 E - Mare Tranquillitatus (Sea of Tranquility)

Surveyor 6

Launched 07 November 1967
Landed 10 November 1967, 01:01:06 UT
Latitude 0.46 N, Longitude 358.63 E - Sinus Medii

Surveyor 7

Launched 07 January 1968
Landed 10 January 1968, 01:05:36 UT
Latitude 41.01 S, Longitude 348.59 E - Tycho North Rim