Surveyor 5
NSSDC ID: 67-084A
Description:
Surveyor 5 was the third spacecraft in the Surveyor series to achieve a successful
lunar soft landing. The spacecraft had a basic triangular structure of aluminum tubing
that provided mounting surfaces for engineering and scientific equipment. The objectives
were to obtain postlanding television pictures of the lunar surface, conduct a Vernier
engine erosion experiment, determine the relative abundance of the chemical elements
in the lunar soil, obtain touchdown dynamics data, and obtain thermal and radar reflectivity
data. Instrumentation for this spacecraft was similar to that of the previous Surveyors
and included landing legs, a Vernier propulsion system, and numerous engineering
sensors. An alpha-scattering instrument was installed in place of the surface sampler,
and a small bar magnet attached to one footpad was included to detect the presence
of magnetic material in the lunar soil. The spacecraft landed on September 11, 1967,
in Mare Tranquillitatis, at 1.41 deg n latitude and 23.18 deg e longitude (selenographic
coordinates), within the rimless edge of a small crater on a slope of about 20 deg.
The spacecraft transmitted excellent data for all experiments from shortly after
touchdown until October 18, 1967, with an interval of no transmission from September
24 to October 15, 1967, during the first lunar night. Transmissions were received
until November 1, 1967, when shutdown for the second lunar night occurred. Transmissions
were resumed on the third and fourth lunar days, with the final transmission occurring
on December 17, 1967. Pictures were transmitted during the first, second, and fourth
lunar days. |
Launch Information:
Launch Date/Time: 1967-09-08 at 07:57:00 UTC
Launch Site/Country: Cape Canaveral, United States
Launch Vehicle: Atlas-Centaur |
Orbital Information:
Orbit: Lander
Central Body: Moon
Epoch start date/time: 1967.254:00:46:44 (11
Sep.)
Latitude: 1.41 degrees
Longitude: 23.18 degrees |
Project Scientist
Dr. Leonard D. Jaffe
Mail Stop 301-485
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91109 |
|
Discipline(s)
Planetary Science |
Sponsoring Agencies/Countries
NASA-Office of Space Science Applications/United
States |
|
