Surveyor 5

Surveyor 5 was the fifth probe of the U.S. space agency NASA as part of the Surveyor program. The Surveyor program was the successor of the Ranger program. The results of the program should prepare the first manned moon landing. Surveyor 5 should undamaged land on the moon and send images and data from there to the earth. It was different than the previous probes, with an alpha particle, X-ray spectrometer and an expanded instrumentation. Surveyor 5 was the third U.S. probe that landed softly on the moon and transmitted data and images. She was the first probe, which undertook analyzes of surface and sent to Earth.

Mission

Surveyor 5 launched on September 8, 1967, on an Atlas - Centaur rocket from the launch pad LC - 36 of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. A running course correction on September 9 went smoothly. Due to report problems with the helium pressure in the fuel tanks, the deceleration was only at an altitude of 1,300 meters and a speed of 30 m / s, is introduced instead of the planned altitude of 10,700 meters and a speed of about 135 m / s. On September 11, 1967 at 00:46 UTC clock Surveyor 5 landed despite malfunction gently in the Sea of Tranquility on a surface with a slope of 20 degrees and only 29 kilometers from the calculated target point. Already on the first lunar day she sent 18,006 images, and the alpha -ray spectrometer transmitted first analysis of an extraterrestrial body.

On 13 September, the vernier engines were fired for a short time with low thrust. The probe did not answer. With this ignition, the behavior of the lunar surface should be investigated. In the next moon days Surveyor sent 5 more images and data of the alpha -ray spectrometer and also set up the excavator arm. The evaluations showed that the lunar surface is constructed similarly irdscher basalt: 53% to 63 % oxygen, 15.5% to 21.5 % silicon, 10 % to 16 % of sulfur, iron, cobalt and nickel, 4.5 % to 8.5 % of aluminum and small amounts of magnesium, sodium, and carbon.

On 17 December 1967, the radio contact was lost with the probe. Images were transferred to the first, second and fourth lunar day. Overall, the probe sent 19.118 images.

The mission was a success.

External links and sources

Description of the mission Surveyor 5 on nasa.gov (English)
Description of the Surveyor program

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