Surveyor 1
| Surveyor 1 | ||||||||||
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 Launch of the Surveyor 1 launcher |
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| NSSDC ID | 1966-045A | |||||||||
| Mission goal | Preparation of manned moon landings | |||||||||
| Client | NASA | |||||||||
| Launcher | Atlas - Centaur AC-10 / 290D | |||||||||
| construction | ||||||||||
| Takeoff mass | 995.2 kg | |||||||||
| Course of the mission | ||||||||||
| Start date | May 30, 1966, 14:41 UTC | |||||||||
| launch pad | CCAFS LC-36 | |||||||||
| End date | 7th January 1967 | |||||||||
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Surveyor 1 was the US space agency NASA's first probe as part of the Surveyor program . The Surveyor program was the successor to the Ranger program . The results of the program should prepare the first manned moon landing . Surveyor 1 was designed to prove that it is possible to land a probe successfully on the moon and send images and data to Earth from there. In addition, the communication channels should be checked and the making of course corrections on the direct route to the moon should be practiced during the flight. Surveyor 1 was the first US probe to land softly on the moon and transmit data and images.
mission
Surveyor 1 was launched on May 30, 1966 aboard an Atlas - Centaur rocket from the launch pad LC-36 of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station . In contrast to the ranger missions, there is no parking orbit . This means that the probe headed straight for the moon after it had separated from high school. A minor course correction took place on May 31. After 63 hours of flight, Surveyor 1 ignited the brake engines at an altitude of 75 kilometers above the moon's surface, thereby reducing the speed from 2612 m / s to 110 m / s. At an altitude of approx. 11 kilometers above the surface, the Doppler radar and the altimeter took over the further landing approach. From now on, braking was carried out with Vernier engines. At a height of 3.4 meters, the engines were stopped and the probe covered the last few meters in free fall. On June 2, 1966 at 6:17 a.m. UT , the Surveyor touched down about 100 kilometers north of the Flamsteed crater in Oceanus Procellarum with a residual speed of about 3 m / s.
After a function test, Surveyor 1 transmitted the first of a total of 11,240 images. In addition, data on the reflectivity of the lunar surface, the thickness of the surface and the temperature of the probe were collected and transmitted. The temperature of the probe should be used to draw conclusions about the surface temperature of the moon. Surveyor 1 survived the lunar night without difficulty and sent data and images again the next lunar day. On July 14, 1966, a sudden voltage drop was noted in the batteries, but it was possible to obtain data from the probe until January 7, 1967.
The mission was a success.
Trivia
The landing site of Surveyor 1 can be seen in images of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter , which was launched in 2009 .
Web links and sources
- Surveyor 1 in the NSSDCA Master Catalog (English)
- Bernd Letenberger: Description of the surveyor program