Surveyor 1

 

While not supported at Honeysuckle Creek (they were supported at Tidbinbilla), the Surveyor series of spacecraft was crucial in paving the way for Apollo.

The unmanned Surveyor 1 spacecraft was launched on May 30 1966 and landed in Oceanus Procellarum on June 2nd.

 

 

Panorama from Surveyor 1

This panorama from Surveyor 1 was received at the Tidbinbilla Deep Space tracking station shortly after the unmanned spacecraft touched down on the lunar surface.

Scan: Mike Dinn.

Peter Burton, in the UK, made these recordings of the live coverage of the mission of Surveyor 1. They really capture the excitement.

Launch (136kb) – with the familiar voice of NASA Public Affairs Officer Jack King.

Lunar landing (1MB) – on this and the next clip, JPL scientist Al Hibbs provides the commentary. The British voice heard at 4:00 into the clip sounds like BBC Science Presenter Raymond Baxter.

First picture taking sequence (1.9MB)

with thanks to Peter for these files.

Surveyor

This engineering mockup of a Surveyor hangs in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

Photo: Colin Mackellar.