Surveyor: The Science

Surveyor: The Science

This entry, together with “Surveyor: The Spacecraft” and “Surveyor Imagery”, summarizes the importance of the Surveyor project. The project consisted of seven flights and was divided into two parts: Surveyors I–IV were used primarily for engineering purposes in support of the Apollo program, and the other missions V–VII were devoted largely for science. In the first four missions (only successful I and III), the first priority was to examine the spacecraft after landing and the interface between the spacecraft and the lunar surface. When all engineering efforts were completed, to turn the camera over to the science team, to explore, and to learn new things about the moon. This entry summarizes the important science resulting from the engineering missions I and III and the missions V–VII for science. A number of experiments were performed during the Surveyor project, but not all experiments were aboard each spacecraft, and the ones that were are denoted.

One of the...