Following up on the Rangers, the Surveyor series was the first U.S. effort to make a soft landing on the Moon. The missions would test a new high-energy Atlas/Centaur rocket and a new spacecraft design; two-way communications to control spacecraft activities from the ground; and a new and elegant landing method, with three steerable rocket engines controlled by onboard radar.
Surveyor 1 was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 30, 1966, settling down on the Moon at a site called Flamsteed in Oceanus Procellarum on June 2. Surveyor 1 sent 11,240 pictures, revealing details as small as 2 millimeters (1/12th inch). The lander operated until January 7, 1967.
Surveyor 2 was not as successful. Following its launch on September 20, 1966, it crashed into the Moon three days later. Surveyor 4 was launched July 14, 1967, but its signal was lost 2-1/2 minutes after lunar impact.
Surveyor 3, 5, 6 and 7 repeated the initial triumph of Surveyor 1 in different sites and successively added a robot arm with scoop and a chemical element analyzer to the scientific toolkit. Surveyor 3 was launched April 17, 1967, and operated on the Moon until May 4, 1967. Surveyor 5 was launched September 8, 1967 and lasted until December 17 of that year. Surveyor 6 was launched November 7, 1967 and operated until December 14, 1967. Surveyor 7 was launched January 7, 1968 and lasted until February 21 of that year. All told they acquired almost 90,000 images from five sites.
Surveyor 3 participated in the only lunar surface rendezvous when the Apollo 12 astronauts landed nearby in November 1969. The human crew visited the 2-1/2-year-old lunar station, photographed it and the site and brought some of its parts back to Earth.
The Surveyor spacecraft were built for JPL by Hughes Aircraft Co.
Mass: 995 to 1,039 kilograms (2,194 to 2,288 pounds) at launch; 270 to about 283 kilograms (596 to 625 pounds) at landing
Configuration: Triangular framework of aluminum tubes supported by three footpads on legs, all topped by mast for solar array and antenna. Dimensions about 3 meters (10 feet) high with total footprint 4.3 meters (14 feet) in diameter
Science instruments: Varied; all contained television camera with other instruments such as surface scoop sampler, magnets, temperature sensors, etc.
Launches: 1966-1968
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+ Surveyor (1966 - 1968) (National Space Science Data Center)
+ Ranger & Surveyor Missions fact sheet (PDF)
+ More on the Moon
