In addition to transmitting over 11,000 pictures, it sent information on the bearing strength of the lunar soil, the radar reflectivity, and temperature. Surveyor 3 was the third engineering flight of the series, but for the first time carried a surface-sampling instrument that could reach up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) from the lander and could dig up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) deep. Dimensions about 3 meters (10 feet) high with total footprint 4.3 meters (14 feet) in diameter

Altogether, 27,000 photographs were obtained. Moon Missions to Moon Surveyor Surveyor-3.

Missions to Moon; Moon Mission Updates; Today's Moon.

Surveyor 1, the first of the Surveyor missions to make a successful soft landing, proved the spacecraft design and landing technique. Surveyor 7 (Jan. 7, 1968) was the only probe in the series that was soft-landed in … Missions to the Moon have been conducted by the Soviet Union, United States, European Space Agency, Japan, India, People's Republic of China, Luxembourg and Israel. May 30, 1966: Launch June 2, 1966: Soft-landing on the Moon July 14, 1966: Primary mission completed Jan. 7, 1967: Contact with spacecraft ended In Depth: Surveyor 1. This marked the first lift-off from an extraterrestrial body.

Surveyor 7 was a little different than the other landers, mainly because by January 1968, all the scientific data we needed for our human launch to the moon had already been gathered.

Missions to Moon - Surveyor3 Country: USA: Research Org: NASA: Mission launch: launched in 1966 - 1968: Surveyor 1: Launched 30 May 1966: Surveyor 2: Launched 20 September 1966: Surveyor 3: Launched 17 April 1967: Surveyor 4: Launched 14 July 1967: Surveyor 5: … First soft-landing on the Moon; Key Dates. lunar phase.

Three rover missions were launched, of which two were successful, and eleven sample return flights were attempted with three successes. CURRENT MOON. Past Missions - Surveyor 1-7 Spacecraft Mass: 995 to 1,039 kilograms (2,194 to 2,288 pounds) at launch; 270 to about 283 kilograms (596 to 625 pounds) at landing Configuration: Triangular framework of aluminum tubes supported by three footpads on legs, all topped by mast for solar array and antenna. Upon completion of this mission, over 99% of the Moon's surface had been mapped (with data from all previous missions combined). The mission ended when controllers sent the spacecraft crashing to the lunar surface on January 31, 1968. Firsts.