OTD in Space – June 2: First American Spacecraft on the Moon
On June 2, 1966, NASA's Surveyor 1 landed on the lunar surface to become the first American spacecraft to land on the moon. [‘On This Day in Space’ Video Series on Space.com]
Surveyor 1 took more than 11,000 photos of the moon along with other measurements, but, more importantly, proved that NASA's soft-landing technique and spacecraft designs were sound. NASA scientists thought that the landing of a space probe would’ve taken many tries, but were surprised by its success on the first. This came as a delightful shock as only four months earlier, the Soviet Union ultimately reached a successful landing of their Luna 9 probe after multiple failed attempts. The mission set the stage for the first manned lunar landing by Apollo 11 just three years later in 1969.
Surveyor 1 took more than 11,000 photos of the moon along with other measurements, but, more importantly, proved that NASA's soft-landing technique and spacecraft designs were sound. NASA scientists thought that the landing of a space probe would’ve taken many tries, but were surprised by its success on the first. This came as a delightful shock as only four months earlier, the Soviet Union ultimately reached a successful landing of their Luna 9 probe after multiple failed attempts. The mission set the stage for the first manned lunar landing by Apollo 11 just three years later in 1969.