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Encyclopedia > Surveyor 1
Surveyor 1
Surveyor

Surveyor model on Earth
Organization NASA
Major contractors Hughes Aircraft
Mission type Lander
Satellite of Moon
Launch date May 30, 1966 at 14:41:00 UTC
Launch vehicle Atlas-Centaur
Decay Landed on moon June 2, 1966, 06:17:37 UT
at 2.45° S 43.22° W
Mission duration 65 hours
NSSDC ID 1966-045A
Mass 292 kg after landing

Surveyor 1 was the first lunar lander in the American Surveyor program that explored the Moon. The program was managed by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, utilizing spacecraft designed and built by Hughes Aircraft. Surveyor - NASA Lunar soft lander (NASA) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... For other uses, see NASA (disambiguation). ... Hughes logo adopted after his death Hughes developed the AIM-120 AMRAAM, one of the worlds most advanced air-to-air missiles Hughes Aircraft Company was a major defense/aerospace company founded by Howard Hughes. ... This article is about Earths moon. ... is the 150th day of the year (151st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... UTC redirects here. ... Mercury Atlas 9 rocket and capsule on pad The Atlas is a venerable line of space launch vehicles built by Lockheed Martin. ... is the 153rd day of the year (154th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) is a department in NASAs Solar System Exploration Division. ... A lander is a type of spacecraft which descends to come to rest on the surface of an astronomical body. ... Photograph of Surveyor(3) lunar landing spacecraft taken by Apollo 12 astronauts (descriptions added). ... This article is about Earths moon. ... For other uses, see NASA (disambiguation). ... For the singer/songwriter, see Jon Peter Lewis. ... Hughes logo adopted after his death Hughes developed the AIM-120 AMRAAM, one of the worlds most advanced air-to-air missiles Hughes Aircraft Company was a major defense/aerospace company founded by Howard Hughes. ...

A total 11,237 images were transmitted to Earth. is the 150th day of the year (151st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 153rd day of the year (154th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ...


The successful soft landing in the Ocean of Storms was the first ever by the U.S. on an extraterrestrial body, and came just four months after the landing of the Soviet Luna 9 mission. The Ocean of Storms of the Moon. ... Luna 9 (E-6 series), also known as Lunik 9 (internal name E-6 N. 13), was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Unions Luna program. ...

Contents

Mission description

The Surveyor spacecraft was designed to attain the engineering objectives of the Surveyor program, which included the first lunar soft landing by an American spacecraft. No instrumentation was carried specifically for scientific experiments, but considerable scientific information was obtained. The spacecraft carried two television cameras - one for approach, which was not used, and one for operations on the lunar surface. Over 100 engineering sensors were on board. The television system transmitted pictures of the spacecraft footpad and surrounding lunar terrain and surface materials. The spacecraft also acquired data on the radar reflectivity of the lunar surface, bearing strength of the lunar surface, and spacecraft temperatures for use in the analysis of the lunar surface temperatures.

Launch of the Atlas-Centaur 10 rocket carrying the Surveyor spacecraft.

The spacecraft was launched May 30, 1966, directly into a lunar impact trajectory. Engines were turned off at a height of 3.4 m above the lunar surface. The spacecraft fell freely from this height, landing on the lunar surface on June 2, 1966, in Oceanus Procellarum - 2.45 deg s latitude, 43.22 deg w longitude (selenographic coordinates). The spacecraft transmitted data from shortly after touchdown until July 14, 1966, with an interval of no operation during lunar night (June 14 to July 7, 1966). Engineering interrogations continued until January 7, 1967. Mercury Atlas 9 rocket and capsule on pad The Atlas is a venerable line of space launch vehicles built by Lockheed Martin. ... is the 150th day of the year (151st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 153rd day of the year (154th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... Selenographic coordinates are used to refer to locations on the surface of Earths moon. ... is the 195th day of the year (196th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 7th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ...


Science instruments

Television

Image from Surveyor 1 of its footpad in order to study soil mechanics in preparation for the Apollo manned landings.
Image from Surveyor 1 of its footpad in order to study soil mechanics in preparation for the Apollo manned landings.

The TV camera consisted of a vidicon tube, 25 and 100 mm focal length lenses, shutter, filters, and iris mounted along an axis inclined approximately 16 deg to the central axis of the spacecraft. The camera was mounted under a mirror that could be moved in azimuth and elevation. Camera operation was totally dependent upon the receipt of the proper command structure from earth. Frame by frame coverage of the lunar surface was obtained over 360 deg in azimuth and from +40 deg above the plane normal to the camera Z axis to -65 deg below this plane. Both 600 line and 200 line modes of operation were used. The 200 line mode transmitted over an omnidirectional antenna for the first 14 photos and scanned one frame every 61.8 seconds. The remaining transmissions were of 600 line pictures over a directional antenna, and each frame was scanned every 3.6 seconds. Each 200 line picture required 20 seconds for a complete video transmission and utilized a bandwidth of 1.2 kHz. Each 600 line picture required nominally 1 second to be read from the vidicon and required a 220 kHz bandwidth for transmission. The data transmissions were converted to a standard television signal for closed circuit and public broadcast television. The television images were displayed on earth on a slow scan monitor coated with a long persistency phosphor. The persistency was selected to optimally match the nominal maximum frame rate. One frame of TV identification was received for each incoming TV frame and was displayed in real time at a rate compatible with the incoming image. These data were recorded on a video magnetic tape recorder. Over 10,000 pictures were taken by the Surveyor 1 camera before lunar sunset on June 14, 1966. Included were wide and narrow angle panoramas, focus ranging surveys, photometric surveys, special area surveys, and celestial photography. The spacecraft responded to commands to activate the camera on July 7 and, by July 14, 1966, returned nearly another 1000 frames. Soil mechanics is a discipline that applies the principles of engineering mechanics to soil to predict the mechanical behavior of soil. ... In older video cameras, prior to the 1990s, a video camera tube or pickup tube was used instead of a charge-coupled device (CCD). ... is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 195th day of the year (196th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ...


Strain gauge

Strain gauges were mounted on each leg shock absorber to record the peak axial forces at landing impact of the spacecraft. They were designed to accept a force of approximately 800 kgf (7.8 kN). The unit kilogram-force (kgf, often just kg) or kilopond (kp) is defined as the force exerted by one kilogram of mass in standard Earth gravity. ...


See also

  • Luna 9 - First successful lander (Soviet Union)

Luna 9 (E-6 series), also known as Lunik 9 (internal name E-6 N. 13), was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Unions Luna program. ...

External links



 

Surveyor
Spaceflight Portal
Previous mission:  Start of program Next mission:  Surveyor 2
Surveyor 1 | Surveyor 2 | Surveyor 3 | Surveyor 4 | Surveyor 5 | Surveyor 6 | Surveyor 7
Photograph of Surveyor(3) lunar landing spacecraft taken by Apollo 12 astronauts (descriptions added). ... Download high resolution version (904x911, 172 KB) Charles Conrad Jr. ... Surveyor 2 was the second American lunar lander in the Surveyor program that explored the Moon. ... Surveyor 2 was the second American lunar lander in the Surveyor program that explored the Moon. ... Surveyor 3 was the third lunar lander of the Surveyor program that explored the Moon. ... Surveyor 4 was the fourth lunar lander in the Surveyor program that explored the Moon. ... Surveyor 5 was the fifth lunar lander of the Surveyor program that explored the Moon. ... Surveyor 6 was the sixth lunar lander of the Surveyor program that explored the Moon. ... Surveyor 7 was the seventh and last lunar lander of the Surveyor program that explored the Moon. ...

  Results from FactBites:
 
NASM Space Artifacts: Surveyor (536 words)
Surveyor 1 landed on 2 June, 1966 within 16 kilometers (10 miles) of its midcourse aiming point just north of Flamsteed Crater on the Moons "Ocean of Storms." More than 10,000 high-quality photographs of the lunar surface were returned to Earth during the spacecraft's first lunar day.
Surveyor 3 was similar to Surveyor 1, except that it had a "scoop and claw" device with which tests of the bearing strength and consistency of the lunar surface and surface material could be tested.
Finally, Surveyor 7 was equipped with both the scoop and claw device and the alpha back-scattering instrument, with the former used to reposition the latter and prepare the surface for different measurements.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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