Surveyor 7
Surveyor 7 — the last Surveyor (launched 7 January 1968) and the only one sent to a rugged science target, the highlands near the crater Tycho. It returned over 21,000 images and ran days of soil chemistry, closing the programme that proved Apollo could land.
Key facts
Mission & specifications
Mission
- Operator
- NASA / JPL
- Launched
- January 7, 1968
- Status
- Completed
Trajectory
- Distance from the Sun
- 1.01 AU
- Distance from Earth
- 430,479 km
- Distance from Venus
- 0.603 AU
Mission
Surveyor 7 closed the programme by finally indulging the scientists. The first six Surveyors had been sent to smooth, safe maria to rehearse for Apollo; Surveyor 7, with the engineering job essentially done, was aimed instead at a rugged and scientifically tempting highland target — the bright ejecta blanket around the crater Tycho. Launched on 7 January 1968, it landed safely amid the boulders and returned more than 21,000 images along with days of alpha-scattering chemistry, finding the highland soil chemically distinct from the maria. It even detected the light of two lasers aimed at it from Earth. With Surveyor 7 the pre-Apollo reconnaissance was complete: the Moon had been mapped, its surface proven firm, and the way to the first crewed landing eighteen months later stood open.
Images
Images from open archives · credit shown per image