On
April 17, 1967, NASA's Surveyor 3 spacecraft launched from Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on a mission to the lunar surface. A
little more than two years after it landed on the moon with the goal of
paving the way for a future human mission, the Surveyor 3 spacecraft got
a visit from Apollo 12 Commander Charles Conrad Jr. and astronaut Alan
L. Bean, who snapped this photo on November 20, 1969. . After Surveyor 1's initial studies of the lunar surface in 1966,
Surveyor 3 made further inroads into preparations for human missions to
the moon. Using a surface sampler to study the lunar soil, Surveyor 3
conducted experiments to see how the lunar surface would fare against
the weight of an Apollo lunar module. . The moon lander, which was the
second of the Surveyor series to make a soft landing on the moon, also
gathered information on the lunar soil's radar reflectivity and thermal
properties in addition to transmitting more than 6,000 photographs of
its surroundings. .
The Apollo 12 Lunar Module, visible in the background at right,
landed about 600 feet from Surveyor 3 in the Ocean of Storms. The
television camera and several other pieces were taken from Surveyor 3
and brought back to Earth for scientific examination. . Here, Conrad
examines the Surveyor's TV camera prior to detaching it. Astronaut
Richard F. Gordon Jr. remained with the Apollo 12 Command and Service
Modules (CSM) in lunar orbit while Conrad and Bean descended in the LM
to explore the moon. > Apollo 12 and Surveyor 3 > Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Looks at Apollo 12, Surveyor 3 Landing Sites Image Credit: NASA
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