Surveyor 1: the story
Surveyor 1 · Chapter 1 of 7
30 May 1966
Launch
Surveyor 1 left Earth on a Atlas-Centaur from Launch Complex 36A.
Surveyor 1 · Chapter 2 of 7
2 June 1966
Arrival
Retro-rocket soft landing at Oceanus Procellarum.
Surveyor 1 · Chapter 3 of 7
1961
Seven landers
NASA picked Hughes Aircraft to build seven Surveyor landers under JPL's technical direction.
Surveyor 1 · Chapter 4 of 7
2 June 1966
First try
It touched down in the Ocean of Storms 63.6 hours after launch, about 14 km from its target.
Surveyor 1 · Chapter 5 of 7
1966
11,240 pictures
By 6 July 1966 it had sent back 11,240 pictures over two sessions.
Surveyor 1 · Chapter 6 of 7
2009
Seen again
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed Surveyor 1, still sitting on Oceanus Procellarum.
Surveyor 1 · Chapter 7 of 7
7 January 1967
Last signal
Surveyor 1 survived the long lunar nights and answered Earth on and off for seven months before its final contact in January 1967.
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Apollo 11 lander →Back to Surveyor 1