Editing Surveyor 1 (section)

== Mission description ==
[[Image:Surveyor 1 launch.jpg|left|thumb|Launch of the [[Atlas-Centaur]] rocket carrying the Surveyor 1 [[space probe]]]]
[[Image:390497main surveyor1 enlarged.jpg|left|thumb|Surveyor 1 photographed by the ''[[Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter]]'' in 2009]]
[[Image:Surveyor 1 site 1192 med.jpg|left|thumb|Lunar surface centered on the landing site, photographed by ''[[Lunar Orbiter 1]]'' in 1966.  View is 7 km wide.]]

The Surveyor series of [[space probe]]s was designed to carry out the first soft landings on the Moon by any American [[spacecraft]]. No instrumentation was carried specifically for scientific experiments by Surveyor 1, but considerable scientific data were collected by its [[television camera]] and then returned to Earth via the [[Deep Space Network]] from 1966 to 1967. These spacecraft carried two television cameras&nbsp;— one for its approach, which was not used in this case, and one for taking still pictures of the lunar surface. Over 100 engineering sensors were on board each Surveyor. Their television systems transmitted pictures of the spacecraft footpad and surrounding lunar terrain and surface materials. These spacecraft also acquired data on the radar reflectivity of the lunar surface, the load-bearing strength of the [[lunar surface]], and the temperatures for use in the analysis of the lunar surface temperatures. (Later Surveyor space probes, beginning with [[Surveyor 3]], carried scientific instruments to measure the composition and [[mechanics|mechanical properties]] of the lunar "soil".)

Surveyor 1 was launched May 30, 1966 and sent directly into a trajectory to the Moon without any [[parking orbit]]. Its [[retrorocket]]s were turned off at a height of about 3.4 [[meter]]s above the lunar surface. Surveyor 1 fell freely to the surface from this height, and it landed on the lunar surface on June 2, 1966, on the ''Oceanus Procellarum''. This location was at {{Lunar coords and quad cat|2.474|S|43.339|W}}.<ref name=NASA/>  This is within the northeast portion of the large crater called Flamsteed P (or the ''Flamsteed Ring'').  [[Flamsteed (crater)|Flamsteed]] itself lies within Flamsteed P on the south side.

The duration of the [[spaceflight]] of Surveyor 1 was about 63 hours, 30 minutes. Surveyor 1's lunar launch  weight was about {{convert|995.2|kg}}, and its landing weight (minus expended maneuvering propellant, its [[Solid-fuel rocket|solid-fueled]] retrorocket (which had been jettisoned), and its [[radar altimeter]] system) was about {{convert|294.3|kg}}.

Surveyor 1 transmitted [[video]] data from the Moon beginning shortly after its landing through July 14, 1966, but with a period of no operations during the two-week long lunar night of June 14, 1966 through July 7, 1966. Because the Moon always presents the same face to Earth, "line-of-sight" [[radio communication]]s with Surveyor 1 required only changes in ground stations as the Earth rotated. However, since it was solar-powered, Surveyor 1 had no electricity with which to function during the two weeks of the lunar night.

The return of engineering information (temperatures, etc.) from Surveyor 1 continued through January 7, 1967, with several interruptions during the lunar nights.

The landing of Surveyor 1 was carried live on some television networks, and the success of the first Surveyor landing was considered surprising, especially after the failure of a number of the [[Ranger program|Ranger spacecraft]] en route to the Moon. Justin Rennilson, formerly of [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]], stated, "We figured the probability of success at around 10 to 15 percent." Among hundreds of other challenges, an uninterrupted communication link for navigation and control was critical to success.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Pyle|first1=Rod|title=Fifty Years of Moon Dust: Surveyor 1 was a Pathfinder for Apollo|url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/fifty-years-of-moon-dust-surveyor-1-was-a-pathfinder-for-apollo|website=NASA|date=2 June 2016|access-date=12 March 2017}}</ref>