Historical Photo Of The Month - April 2002

Surveyor 3 Surface Sampler Test
Photograph Number 211-5182B

Surveyor 3 was launched April 17, 1967, and landed on the moon three days later. Hughes Aircraft Company was the contractor selected to build the seven landers of the Surveyor Program. The image above shows workers at Hughes testing the Soil Mechanics/Surface Sampler (SM/SS) in December 1966.

Surveyor 3 was the first spacecraft in the Surveyor program to carry an electromechanical scoop device with which scientists were able to dig four trenches by remote control, scoop up samples of lunar soil, perform eight static bearing tests by pressing the scoop against the lunar surface, and 14 impact tests. These tests confirmed that the lunar surface could support a landing craft and that astronauts would be able to walk on the Moon. The spacecraft returned 6,315 high quality television pictures showing the operation of the surface sampler, as well as near and distant views of the lunar surface. On the spacecraft's fourth solar day of operation, a solar eclipse took place, in which the earth moved in front of the Sun.

On November 19, 1969, the Apollo 12 Lunar Module landed within about 180 meters of Surveyor 3. Astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean visited the spacecraft, took photos of it, and removed the television camera and sampler scoop, along with several pieces of cable and tubing which were returned to earth.

For more information about the Surveyor Project, please contact the JPL Archives, where a copy of the Surveyor III Mission Report is available, or see the JPL web site about the Surveyor missions to the Moon.

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