Surveyor 3

Surveyor 3
Surveyor 3 on the Moon, photographed by Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean over two years after it landed
Mission typeLunar lander
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID1967-035A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.02756
Mission duration16 days (launch to last contact)
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerHughes Aircraft
Launch mass1,026 kilograms (2,262 lb)[1]
Landing mass296 kilograms (653 lb)
Start of mission
Launch dateApril 17, 1967, 07:05:01 (1967-04-17UTC07:05:01Z) UTC[1]
RocketAtlas LV-3C Centaur-D AC-12
Launch siteCape Canaveral LC-36B
End of mission
Last contactMay 3, 1967 (1967-05-04)
Lunar lander
Landing dateApril 20, 1967, 00:04:53 UTC
Landing site3°00′58″S 23°25′04″W / 3.01612°S 23.41791°W / -3.01612; -23.41791

Surveyor 3 is the third lander of the American uncrewed Surveyor program sent to explore the surface of the Moon in 1967 and the second to successfully land. It was the first mission to carry a surface-soil sampling-scoop.

Surveyor 3 was visited by Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean in November 1969, and remains the only probe visited by humans on another world. The Apollo 12 astronauts excised several components of Surveyor 3, including the television camera, and returned them to Earth for study.

  1. ^ a b "Surveyor 3". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. Retrieved 2022-12-02.