Surveyor 6 on the plains of Sinus Medii

Surveyor 6 casting 18-meter long shadow with Sun just 8° above the horizon, LROC NAC image M117501284L [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].Mark RobinsonLROC News SystemThe Surveyor spacecraft (1966-1968) were designed to characterize lunar surface properties to help engineers design the systems astronauts would use exploring the Moon. Seven Surveyors were launched to the Moon and five succeeded in landing and returning useful data. Surveyor 1 landed in May 1966 and Surveyor 7, the final mission in the series, landed in January 1968.Surveyor 6 Landed November 10, 1967 in Sinus Medii (0.5°N latitude, 358.6°E longitude), almost dead center on the near side of the Moon. One of its key experiments was measuring the surface chemistry with an alpha scattering detector, which showed the landing area to be basalt, similar to the surface measured by Surveyor 5. Surveyor 6 completed the data acquisition that the Apollo program needed and thus allowed Surveyor 7 to be sent to a site that was of higher scientific interest.(Surveyor 4 was only 150 seconds from landing at the future landing site of Surveyor 6 the previous July when all contact was lost with the spacecraft during the terminal descent firing of its retro-rockets. Although it is believed Surveyor ...