science

Surveyor (crater)

Surveyor (crater) is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Surveyor (crater) rather than just read about it. In short: Surveyor crater is a small crater in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon. The name of the crater was formally adopted by the IAU in 1973.

Key takeaways

Surveyor (crater) belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Surveyor (crater) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Surveyor (crater) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Surveyor crater is a small crater in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon. The name of the crater was formally adopted by the IAU in 1973.

History On April 20, 1967, the Surveyor 3 spacecraft landed within the crater near the east rim. Surveyor 3 was the third lander of the American uncrewed Surveyor program sent to explore the surface of the Moon. The Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean landed the Lunar Module (LM) Intrepid north of Surveyor crater on November 19, 1969, and eventually walked over to Surveyor 3. During their descent, Surveyor crater was a major landmark, and is the largest crater at the landing site. To the west of Surveyor is Head crater. To the southwest are Bench crater and Sharp crater (now called Sharp-Apollo). To the south is Halo crater. A distinct crater on the northeast rim is called Block crater. Block crater was described in the Apollo 12 Preliminary Science Report:

At Block Crater, high on the north wall of Surveyor Crater, nearly all the ejected blocks are sharply angular, which suggests that the crater is very young. Many of the blocks clearly show lines of vesicles similar in appearance to vesicular lavas on Earth. The blocks are probably derived from the older, coarse blocky ejecta deposit underlying the rim that resulted from the Surveyor Crater event. The regolith at Block Crater may be a meter or less thick.

Samples Many samples were collected in and around Surveyor crater. Samples taken near the LM on the north rim of Surveyor crater include drive tube sample 12026, and contingency samples 12073 (regolith breccia) and 12075 (olivine basalt). Soil Sample 12042 was collected on the southwest rim near Halo crater. Samples 12043 (pigeonite basalt), 12044 (soil), 12051 (ilmenite basalt), and 12054 (glass-coated ilmenite basalt) were collected on the south rim. Samples 12056, 12062, 12063, 12064 (all ilmenite basalts), and 12065 (pigeonite basalt) were all likely collected in the interior of the crater near the east rim and northeast of the Surveyor 3 lander. Samples 12045, 12046, and 12047 (all ilmenite basalts) were collected at Block crater on the north rim of Surveyor crater.

External links Lunar Orbiter 3 image 154 H2, used for planning the mission (landing site is left of center). Lunar Orbiter 1 sequence of images 157, 158, and 159, showing the Apollo 12 landing site and vicinity

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Surveyor (crater)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Surveyor (crater) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Surveyor (crater) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Surveyor (crater) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Surveyor (crater)

In research: Surveyor (crater) appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Surveyor (crater) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Surveyor (crater) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Apollo 12, Impact craters on the Moon, LQ19 quadrangle, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Surveyor (crater) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Surveyor (crater) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Surveyor (crater) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Surveyor (crater) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Surveyor (crater) in simple terms?

Surveyor crater is a small crater in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon. The name of the crater was formally adopted by the IAU in 1973.

Why does Surveyor (crater) matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Surveyor (crater)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Surveyor (crater).