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Surveyor 1

Surveyor 1 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 1 rather than just read about it. In short: Surveyor 1 was the first lunar soft-lander in the uncrewed Surveyor program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, United States). This lunar soft-lander gathered data about the lunar surface that would be needed for the crewed Apollo Moon landings that began in 1969.

Surveyor 1 — main illustration
Surveyor 1 — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Surveyor 1 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 1 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Surveyor 1 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Surveyor 1 was the first lunar soft-lander in the uncrewed Surveyor program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, United States). This lunar soft-lander gathered data about the lunar surface that would be needed for the crewed Apollo Moon landings that began in 1969. The successful soft landing of Surveyor 1 on the Ocean of Storms was the first by an American space probe on any extraterrestrial body, occurring four months after the first soft Moon landing by the Soviet Union's Luna 9 probe. Surveyor 1 was launched May 30, 1966, from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and it landed on the Moon on June 2, 1966. Surveyor 1 transmitted 11,237 still photos of the lunar surface to the Earth by using a television camera and a sophisticated radio-telemetry system. The Surveyor program was managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Los Angeles County, California, and the Surveyor space probe was built by the Hughes Aircraft Company in El Segundo, California.

Mission description

The Surveyor series of space probes were intended to carry out the first soft landings on the Moon by any spacecraft. Data was collected by its television camera and returned to Earth via the Deep Space Network from 1966 to 1967. These spacecraft carried two television cameras — one for its approach, which was not used in this case, and one for taking still pictures of the lunar surface. Over 100 engineering sensors were on board each Surveyor. Their television systems transmitted pictures of the spacecraft footpad and surrounding lunar terrain and surface materials. These spacecraft also acquired data on the radar reflectivity of the lunar surface, the load-bearing strength of the lunar surface, and the temperatures for use in the analysis of the lunar surface temperatures. (Later Surveyor space probes, beginning with Surveyor 3, carried scientific instruments to measure the composition and mechanical properties of the lunar "soil".)Surveyor 1 was launched May 30, 1966 and sent directly into a trajectory to the Moon without any parking orbit. Its retrorockets were turned off at a height of about 3.4 meters above the lunar surface. Surveyor 1 fell freely to the surface from this height, and it landed on the lunar surface on June 2, 1966, on the Oceanus Procellarum. This location was at 2.474°S 43.339°W / -2.474; -43.339. This is within the northeast portion of the large crater called Flamsteed P (or the Flamsteed Ring). Flamsteed itself lies within Flamsteed P on the south side. The duration of the spaceflight of Surveyor 1 was about 63 hours, 30 minutes. Surveyor 1's lunar launch weight was about 995.2 kilograms (2,194 lb), and its landing weight (minus expended maneuvering propellant, its solid-fueled retrorocket (which had been jettisoned), and its radar altimeter system) was about 294.3 kilograms (649 lb). Surveyor 1 transmitted video data from the Moon beginning shortly after its landing through July 14, 1966, but with a period of no operations during the two-week long lunar night of June 14, 1966 through July 7, 1966. Because the Moon always presents the same face to Earth, "line-of-sight" radio communications with Surveyor 1 required only changes in ground stations as the Earth rotated. However, since it was solar-powered, Surveyor 1 had no electricity with which to function during the two weeks of the lunar night.

The return of engineering information (temperatures, etc.) from Surveyor 1 continued through January 7, 1967, with several interruptions during the lunar nights.The landing of Surveyor 1 was carried live on some television networks, and the success of the first Surveyor landing was considered surprising, especially after the failure of a number of the Ranger spacecraft en route to the Moon. Justin Rennilson, formerly of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, stated, "We figured the probability of success at around 10 to 15 percent." Among hundreds of other challenges, an uninterrupted communication link for navigation and control was critical to success.

Science instruments

Television

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Surveyor 1 illustration
Surveyor 1: Lunar surface centered on the landing site, photographed by Lunar Orbiter 1 in 1966. View is 7 km wide.
Lunar surface centered on the landing site, photographed by Lunar Orbiter 1 in 1966. View is 7 km wide.
Surveyor 1: Launch of the Atlas-Centaur rocket carrying the Surveyor 1 space probe
Launch of the Atlas-Centaur rocket carrying the Surveyor 1 space probe
Surveyor 1: Surveyor 1 photographed by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2009
Surveyor 1 photographed by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2009
Surveyor 1: Image from Surveyor 1 of its footpad in order to study soil mechanics in preparation for the Apollo crewed landings.
Image from Surveyor 1 of its footpad in order to study soil mechanics in preparation for the Apollo crewed landings.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Surveyor 1

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Surveyor 1 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 1 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 1 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 1

In research
Surveyor 1 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 1 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 1 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1966 on the Moon, Derelict landers (spacecraft), LQ19 quadrangle, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Surveyor 1 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 1 in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Surveyor 1 means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Surveyor 1 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Surveyor 1 in simple terms?

Surveyor 1 was the first lunar soft-lander in the uncrewed Surveyor program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, United States). This lunar soft-lander gathered data about the lunar surface that would be needed for the crewed Apollo Moon landings that began in 1969.

Why does Surveyor 1 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 1?

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 1.

Tags

  • 1966 on the Moon
  • Derelict landers (spacecraft)
  • LQ19 quadrangle
  • Missions to the Moon
  • Spacecraft launched by Atlas-Centaur rockets
  • Spacecraft launched in 1966
  • Spacecraft that soft-landed on the Moon
  • Surveyor program (NASA)

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