Surveyor 7
| Surveyor 7 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Construction of a surveyor probe |
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| NSSDC ID | 1968-001A | |||||||||
| Mission goal | Preparation of manned moon landings | |||||||||
| Client | NASA | |||||||||
| Launcher | Atlas - Centaur AC-10 / 290D | |||||||||
| Course of the mission | ||||||||||
| Start date | January 7, 1968, 06:30 UTC | |||||||||
| launch pad | CCAFS LC-36 | |||||||||
| End date | February 21, 1968 | |||||||||
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Surveyor 7 was the seventh and final probe of the US space agency NASA 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 7 was supposed to land undamaged on the moon and from there transmit images and data to earth. Like Surveyor 5 and Surveyor 6, it was equipped with an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and extended instrumentation. Surveyor 7 was the fifth US probe to land softly on the moon and transmit data and images.
mission
Surveyor 7 was launched on January 7, 1968, aboard an Atlas - Centaur rocket from the launch pad LC-36 of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station . A course correction on January 7th went smoothly. On January 9, Surveyor 7 landed approximately 25 miles north of Tycho Crater . In contrast to the previous probes, which had all landed near the lunar equator , it was decided on this mission to land further south. This should also collect data about other lunar regions. On the first lunar day, the probe sent 20,993 images, some of which were created using a polarizing filter. When the filters were used for the first time, minerals were recognized based on the refractive index . The spectrometer collected data from different points for around 33 hours. A reactivation on the second lunar day was problem-free and Surveyor 7 sent further images and data. The radio signals ended on February 21st. In total, this probe transmitted 21,038 images.
The mission was a success.
