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Surveyor 6

Surveyor 6

Part of the highly successful series of lunar landers sent to the moon to examine the feasibility of a future human mission, Surveyor 6 was the first spacecraft to be launched from the surface of the moon.

Mission Statistics

Launch Date

Nov. 7, 1967

Type

Lander/Rover

Target

Moon

Status

Past

About the mission

Part of the highly successful series of lunar landers sent to the moon to examine the feasibility of a future human mission, Surveyor 6 was the first spacecraft to be launched from the surface of the moon. It lifted itself to about 3 meters altitude and flew about 2.5 meters from its initial landing point to further validate Surveyor 5's finding that the lunar soil is basaltic, an important detail for Apollo mission planners.

The spacecraft returned nearly 30,000 images of the moon, some of which were photographs of the spacecraft's original landing footprint, which helped scientists determine the lunar soil's mechanical properties.

Instruments

  • Imaging system
  • Alpha-scattering surface analyzer

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› Fact Sheet
› JPL History
› Surveyor 6 Information on Solar System Exploration
› Surveyor 6 Information on National Space Science Data Center

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