Editing Surveyor program (section)

== Space Race competition ==
[[File:NASM-SI-2007-29754.jpg|thumb|An engineering model of Surveyor 3, S-10, used for thermal control tests. It was reconfigured to represent a flight model of Surveyor 3 or later, since it was the first to have a scoop and claw surface sampler. (National Air and Space Museum)]]

During the time of the Surveyor missions, the [[United States]] was actively involved in the [[Space Race]] with the [[Soviet Union]]. Thus, the Surveyor 1 landing in June 1966, only four months after the Soviet [[Luna 9]] probe landed in February, was an indication the programs were at similar stages.<ref name="Reeves1994">{{cite book |last1=Reeves |first1=Robert |title=The superpower space race: An explosive rivalry through the solar system |date=1994 |publisher=Springer |location=Boston, MA, USA |isbn=978-1-4899-5986-7 |pages=101–130 |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-5986-7_4 |chapter=Exploring the Moon|doi=10.1007/978-1-4899-5986-7_4 }}</ref>