Mission Summary
Surveyor 3 was the first U.S. lander to dig into the Moon, and it later became the only spacecraft ever visited by astronauts. Launched April 17, 1967, the third in NASA’s robotic Surveyor series, it carried a surface-sampling scoop that could reach out and trench the soil to test whether the ground could hold an Apollo Lunar Module.
During the descent, highly reflective rocks confused the landing radar and the main engine failed to shut off on time. Surveyor 3 bounced off the surface twice, rising about 10 meters and then 3 meters, before settling gently in Oceanus Procellarum on April 20, 1967. It soon began returning what would total more than 6,300 television images.
Working from Earthbound commands, the scoop dug trenches and pressed into the soil, showing that the surface had the consistency of damp sand and was firm enough to bear a crewed lander. More than two years later, in November 1969, the Apollo 12 crew touched down about 180 meters away and walked over to the silent Surveyor 3, retrieving its camera and scoop so scientists could study how the equipment had weathered its long exposure to the Moon.
Sources and notes can be found on the Sources page.
