Surveyor 6

Surveyor 6
Surveyor model on Earth
Mission typeLunar lander
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID1967-112A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.03031
Mission duration37 days (launch to last contact)
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerHughes Aircraft
Launch mass1,008.3 kilograms (2,223 lb)[1]
Landing mass299.6 kilograms (661 lb) after landing
Start of mission
Launch dateNovember 7, 1967, 07:39:01 (1967-11-07UTC07:39:01Z) UTC [1]
RocketAtlas SLV-3C Centaur-D AC-14
Launch siteCape Canaveral LC-36B
End of mission
Last contactDecember 14, 1967 (1967-12-15); last useful data November 24
Lunar lander
Landing dateNovember 10, 1967, 01:01:06 UTC
Return launchNovember 17, 1967, 10:32 UTC
Landing site0°28′N 1°22′W / 0.46°N 1.37°W / 0.46; -1.37[2]
Lunar lander
Landing dateNovember 17, 1967
Landing site2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) west of original landing site[2]

Surveyor 6 is the sixth lunar lander of the American uncrewed Surveyor program that reached the surface of the Moon. Surveyor 6 landed on the Sinus Medii. A total of 30,027 images were transmitted to Earth.

This spacecraft is the fourth of the Surveyor series to successfully achieve a soft landing on the Moon, obtain post landing television pictures, determine the abundance of the chemical elements in the lunar soil, obtain touchdown dynamics data, obtain thermal and radar reflectivity data, and conduct a Vernier engine erosion experiment. Virtually identical to Surveyor 5, this spacecraft carried a television camera, a small bar magnet attached to one footpad, and an alpha-scattering instrument as well as the necessary engineering equipment. It landed on November 10, 1967, in Sinus Medii, 0.49 deg in latitude and 1.40 deg w longitude (selenographic coordinates)–the center of the Moon's visible hemisphere. The spacecraft accomplished all planned objectives. The successful completion of this mission satisfied the Surveyor program's obligation to the Apollo project. On November 24, 1967, the spacecraft was shut down for the two-week lunar night. Contact was made on December 14, 1967, but no useful data was obtained.

Lunar soil surveys were completed using photographic and alpha particle backscattering methods. A similar instrument, the APXS, was used onboard several Mars missions.[3]

In a further test of space technology, Surveyor 6's engines were restarted and burned for 2.5 seconds in the first lunar liftoff on November 17 at 10:32 UTC. This created 150 lbf (700 N) of thrust and lifted the vehicle 12 feet (4 m) from the lunar surface. After moving west eight feet, (2.5 m) the spacecraft once again successfully soft landed and continued functioning as designed.

Surveyor 6 landed near the crash site of Surveyor 4, which malfunctioned a few months earlier in July 1967.

  1. ^ a b "Surveyor 6". NASA's Solar System Exploration website. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
  2. ^ a b "In Depth | Surveyor 6". NASA Solar System Exploration. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
  3. ^ NASA, JPL. "Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) – Mars Science Laboratory". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2016-11-25.