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Author Topic:   Surveyor at 50 years: Pathfinder for Apollo
Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
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posted 06-02-2016 03:05 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
NASA release
Fifty Years of Moon Dust: Surveyor 1 was a Pathfinder for Apollo

Before humans could take their first steps on the moon, that mysterious and forbidding surface had to be reconnoitered by robots. When President John Kennedy set a goal of landing astronauts on the lunar surface in 1961, little was known of that world, beyond what could be gleaned from observations by telescopes.

We knew it was rocky, bleak and heavily cratered — how might these conditions affect the landing of a spacecraft there? Was the surface sufficiently solid to support the 33,500-pound Apollo lunar lander? Or was it so deeply covered in dust from billions of years of meteorite impacts, as some theorized, that the lunar module would simply sink out of sight, dooming the astronauts? These and a hundred other questions about the surface composition dogged mission planners, so a robot would make the dangerous journey first – the lunar lander from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The first probes to reach Earth's nearest neighbor were Russian. Luna 2 impacted the surface in 1959, and the moon was photographed from orbit by another Soviet robot later that year. The U.S. flew a series of impactor probes called Ranger; the first success of that program was Ranger 7, which returned 4,300 images of increasing resolution during the final 17 minutes of flight in 1964. The USSR scored another coup when it made the first soft landing and took the first low-resolution photos of the moon's surface, in February 1966. A series of U.S. mapping spacecraft called Lunar Orbiter photographed the moon from orbit in 1966 and 1967. But it would be the Surveyors that would scout that rugged surface for Apollo, and 50 years ago this week, the first of that series of landers touched down successfully. Surveyor 1 landed on the moon on June 2, 1966.

The leap from impactors and airbag landings to a controlled landing was a big one, and required new, never-before-attempted techniques in guidance, navigation, robotics and imaging. Surveyor was the first spacecraft of its kind, a go-for-broke program that was racing to return data even as the Apollo program was in high gear. The first crewed Apollo landings were expected sometime in 1968 or 1969, so time was short.

Justin Rennilson, formerly of JPL, was the co-principal investigator on the Surveyor television experiment. "Planning for Apollo required getting really high-resolution images showing the details of the lunar surface, because they were talking about designing a spacecraft that would safely land on the lunar surface as we would with Surveyor," he said. "Telescopic photographs of the moon were taken from Earth, but what we needed were high-resolution images to study the rocks on the lunar surface. Even something two feet in size could topple a spacecraft."

The Surveyor program was already in the pipeline before President Kennedy announced his goals for lunar exploration. Surveryor had been intended as a scientific investigation of the moon. But its mission was revised immediately after the young president's address to a joint session of Congress: "I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth." With those words, NASA would steer the bulk of Surveyor's mission toward supporting that goal.

The first Surveyors were tasked with reaching the lunar surface successfully via a soft landing, then investigating the physical properties of the nearby landscape to understand the risks and challenges to landing astronauts there. But that first successful landing was far from assured. NASA had accomplished flybys of Venus and Mars, but had not attempted landing on any celestial body before Surveyor. Among hundreds of other challenges, an uninterrupted communication link for navigation and control would be critical to success.

"We figured the probability of success at around 10 to 15 percent," Rennilson said. "We had a lot of problems, not only on the spacecraft but also at JPL. The lab, which managed the Surveyor program for NASA, had just recently finished a new space flight operations facility, the SFOF. This had a telemetry connection with Goldstone, a tracking station in the California desert (now part of NASA's Deep Space Network) that would be accommodating the communication needs of the spacecraft during landing. But there were signal dropouts. They didn't know what to do, so they sent me to Goldstone." He arrived at the tracking station just prior to the landing on June 2.

Surveyor had been sent on a direct trajectory — it would not enter lunar orbit before landing, but would hurtle directly towards the surface at 6,000 mph (9,700 kilometers per hour). The thrusters had to fire at precisely the right moment and maintain perfect orientation to communicate with Earth, all the way down.

"I remember sitting there watching the oscilloscope as the spacecraft was coming down, all the way to the lunar surface. 'God, the signal is still there and it is still working!' I thought. We were successful and it was just astounding." Immediately upon Surveyor's arrival on the moon, Rennilson hopped another plane to return to JPL.

After the failure of a number of the Ranger spacecraft en route to the moon, the success of the first Surveyor landing was an incredible relief. William Pickering, the director of JPL from 1954 through 1976, recalled in a 1978 Caltech interview that he had some concerns about the television networks' request to carry the landing live on what he thought was to be national coverage: "We finally ended up by agreeing to let them do it, and we kept our fingers crossed and hoped it was going to be all right. But the thing that startled me was that about a half an hour before it was due to land, one of the network people said, 'Oh, by the way, we're live all over the world,' which really sort of shook me. Fortunately, it worked, and in fact, sometime later a friend of mine told me that he was in Paris, and he just idly turned on the television set and there was Surveyor 1 landing on the moon."

With Surveyor 1 down and safe, the exploration of the moon would now begin in earnest. The landing site was a few dozen miles north of a 13-mile-wide (21-kilometer) crater called Flamsteed that resided within Oceanus Procellarum, the largest of the moon's smooth basaltic mare, or plains. The first views of the lunar surface were striking, but not easily acquired. Photography from space was still in its infancy.

The camera was advanced for its time, a slow-scan television imager with a zoom lens -- the first time such an arrangement had been used in space. The goal of the researchers was to gather enough imagery to identify and investigate specific surface features, and also to create panoramic photos that would allow them to get a sense of the overall nature of the surface and any threats it might pose to the Apollo lunar lander.

The first sets of panoramic images were created using a then-new technique of taking instant-photography images from a small TV screen and then assembling the photographs into a larger image. Rennilson remembers the process vividly: "We had a Polaroid camera attached to a 5-inch-diameter CRT so that you could capture images on Polaroid film. These images were given to a crew that we had trained — who would put them down in a particular order — to create the panoramas." That crew trained long and hard to prepare for the process. "We got so that after years of practicing, we were able to put down a panorama about three to four minutes after completing all that panning of the lunar surface."

Above: Image of Surveyor 1's shadow against the lunar surface in the late lunar afternoon, with the horizon at the upper right.Surveyor 1, the first of the Surveyor missions to make a successful soft landing, proved the spacecraft design and landing technique. In addition to transmitting over 11,000 pictures, it sent information on the bearing strength of the lunar soil, the radar reflectivity, and temperature.

By the end of Surveyor 1's mission six months after it landed on the moon, 11,240 images had been returned, allowing for the creation of dozens of wide panoramas and allowing the examination of details as small as 0.04 inches (1 millimeter) in diameter. Images of the three footpads demonstrated that not only was landing on the moon possible, but that the lander had not sunk into deep moon dust — as was feared by some scientists — but had landed on a firm, supportive surface. Beginning with Surveyor 3, a scoop attached to an extendable arm allowed scientists to investigate the texture and hardness of the lunar surface. By the time Surveyor 7 completed operations on the moon in February 1968 — just 10 months before Apollo 8 orbited the moon — the pathway to the first crewed lunar landing of Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969, was open. The Surveyor program had been critical to that accomplishment.

Rennilson concludes: "The Chinese have an interesting saying: 'When you take a drink of water, you should think of the source.' I think that applies to the early unmanned space program. JPL has engineered so much of the modern stuff we do in space today. My remembrances are primarily about all the great things that we saw. So when Apollo landed, and when Curiosity landed on Mars, it was a great feeling."

Blackarrow
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posted 06-03-2016 07:37 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have a very clear memory of Surveyor 1 landing successfully on the Moon. I was 11, and already hooked on space. The landing was covered live by the BBC, and was conveniently timed for me to watch before going to school. The BBC coverage was presented by Raymond Baxter (a World War 2 spitfire pilot who took part in a raid on German V2 missile bases) who became a very popular TV presenter on a programme called "Tomorrow's World." (One of his co-presenters, James Burke, became "Mr. Apollo", presenting live coverage of all the Apollo landings).

I distinctly remember the excitement of the Surveyor landing and then the appearance of an actual TV image of the surface of the Moon. After that, classes in school seemed terribly dull!

Headshot
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posted 06-06-2016 08:07 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Headshot   Click Here to Email Headshot     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I too remember taking time to watch live coverage of Surveyor I's landing, except it was in the 2 to 3 a.m. timeframe for me.

I had my reel-to-reel tape recorder going, but must have had the sound too high as I woke up my parents. My mother went back to bed, but my father stayed up to watch it with me. Didn't think it would land OK, but it did. I still remember Al Hibbs' tremulous comment, "It looks good," near the landing. I was so excited that I could not get back to sleep and was a zombie at school that day.

That evening I wrote a letter to Hughes Aircraft about the Surveyor Spacecraft. Soon I received a big thick envelope with a Hughes return address, it was packed with photos and press handouts, all printed on really classy paper. I still have that material, along with a similar set from the Surveyor 3 mission.

ozspace
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posted 07-20-2016 07:07 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ozspace   Click Here to Email ozspace     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Space Association of Australia video
Surveyor 1 was the first lunar soft-lander in the unmanned Surveyor program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This lunar soft-lander gathered data about the lunar surface that would be needed for the manned Apollo Moon landings that began in 1969.

Surveyor 1 was launched on 30 May 1966, from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at Cape Canaveral in Florida, and it landed on the Moon on 2 June 1966. Surveyor 1 transmitted 11,237 still photos of the lunar surface to the Earth by using a television camera and a sophisticated radio-telemetry system.

Mike Dinn was born and educated in England. After graduating in Electrical Engineering (London) in 1955, he worked in British industry mainly on aircraft electronics and electrics.

In 1960 he moved to Australia, and was responsible for aircraft flight testing instrumentation with the Royal Australian Air Force.

Mike moved to the Canberra Deep Space Tracking Station (Tidbinbilla – part of NASA/JPL’s Deep Space Network) in 1966 as Deputy Station Director in charge of Operations, his first mission being Surveyor 1.

In 1967 he took a similar position at Honeysuckle Creek, one of NASA’s three main communications facilities for the Apollo program, and was actively involved in missions 7 to 14.

He returned to the DSN station during the building of the new 210 ft dish at Tidbinbilla, and spent a year at JPL Pasadena (1972). This antenna supported Apollo 17 as its first task.

After a period in Australia’s Department of Defence he returned to the Deep Space Station in 1983, becoming Director in 1988. NASA’s main missions during this period were Voyager, Magellan and Galileo, but the facility also supported Shuttle until the TDRSS spacecraft were in place.

Mike retired in 1994 – on Apollo 11’s 25th anniversary, having just succeeded in obtaining an Apollo 11 lunar rock for display, which was presented by NASA astronaut John Young.

Mike considers the highlight of his career as being Apollo 11 operations (and in particular the TV of the first lunar step to the world coming through Honeysuckle), closely followed by being at Houston during Apollo 17 and sending some commands from Ed Fendell’s INCO console on Gene Kranz’s shift, and also Apollo 8 where Honeysuckle Creek first came into its own.

Mike was awarded two NASA Public Service Medals – in 1986 and 1995.

(Source: Biography and photograph of Mike Dinn courtesy of honeysucklecreek.net - a tribute website to the men and women of Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station in Canberra, Australia and the wider Australian involvement in manned and unmanned space exploration).

Mike and his wife Trudy remain in Canberra and are actively involved with others in the Honeysuckle Creek TID tracking community.

Blackarrow
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From: Belfast, United Kingdom
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posted 07-20-2016 05:33 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Wow! The first time I have seen this since watching it live 50 years ago. A special experience.

Jim_Voce
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posted 11-02-2018 03:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim_Voce   Click Here to Email Jim_Voce     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I always thought that the Surveyor landing sites would be almost a direct copy of Apollo landing sites. But that doesn't appear to be true.

Why were two of the seven Surveyor missions sent to the Ocean of Storms instead of just one? Two Surveyor missions were sent to the Sinius Medii (Central Bay) region yet no Apollo missions were assigned to this area, why? And was it always planned that there would be just seven Surveyor missions?

Editor's note: Threads merged.

Headshot
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posted 11-02-2018 04:38 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Headshot   Click Here to Email Headshot     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Surveyors I thr VI were targeted for Apollo landing zones. After NASA was satisfied with the results from the four successful Surveyors, Surveyor VII was sent to a strictly scientifically interesting site.

Sinus Medii was a backup site for Mare Tranquillitatis as both were "blue" Eastern Mare. Once Apollo had sampled a "blue" Mare, there was no need to go to a similar site.

The next step would be to sample a "red" Western Mare. "To A Rocky Moon" by Don Wilhelms has a great chapter on the Surveyor landing sites and the "red" vs "blue" mare question.

Blackarrow
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posted 11-02-2018 08:46 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
A great book, in which he explains (if I remember correctly) why the Apollo 12 landing site was a poor choice. Choosing Surveyor 1 as a target would have been better.

Jim_Voce
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posted 11-03-2018 05:43 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim_Voce   Click Here to Email Jim_Voce     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Why were two of the seven Surveyor missions sent to the Ocean of Storms?

Jim Behling
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posted 11-03-2018 08:57 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim Behling   Click Here to Email Jim Behling     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Simple internet search shows that the Ocean of Storms is the largest of maria and the first four successful landings were along the equator, which Oceanus Procellarum occupies a large part of. Much like how Asia dominates the eastern hemisphere of Earth.

Blackarrow
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posted 11-03-2018 09:53 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
According to Don Wilhelms ("To a Rocky Moon"):
The choice of the site for the second manned landing has always pained me. In my opinion Apollo 12 wasted an opportunity that was never made up and left a gap in lunar geologic knowledge* that has never been closed." Surveyor 1 landed inside the Flamsteed ring. The Flamsteed site "not only provided a sitting Surveyor but also was favoured by geologists because of its large expanses of unequivocally young (Eratosthenian) mare material.
*The book was published in 1993 and much has been learned since then by unmanned orbital missions, but that was Wilhelms' conclusion even a quarter of a century after Apollo.

However, Wilhelms acknowledges that there were OPERATIONAL reasons which favoured the Surveyor 3 site. Either site would allow a pinpoint landing and the recovery of Surveyor parts to determine the effects of long exposure to the lunar environment, but the Surveyor 3 site allowed better orbital photography of the favoured Fra Mauro site, and a launch delay would allow relocation of the landing from the Surveyor 3 site to the more westerly Surveyor 1 site. However, if Surveyor 1 was the target, there was no more westerly alternative in the event of a launch delay.

None of this detracts one iota from the skill of the astronauts in achieving the desired pinpoint landing. A bird in the hand...

Headshot
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posted 11-03-2018 11:10 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Headshot   Click Here to Email Headshot     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Also, do not forget the perception that the Surveyor III site might have been located on a ray from Copernicus crater. Unfortunately Surveyor III did not contain the alpha-scattering device. Knowing the composition of the ray, or dating the Copernicus impact itself were BIG items on the lunar scientists' bucket list. Hence the targeting of Apollo 12 to the Surveyor III site, with the Surveyor I site as backup.

Has anyone ever seen a traverse map for Apollo 12 if they had landed at the Surveyor I site? Some must have been prepared.

Jim_Voce
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posted 11-03-2018 05:46 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim_Voce   Click Here to Email Jim_Voce     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Apollo 12 had been scheduled to land in the Ocean of Storms fairly early on. But the pinpoint landing aspect of its mission was added later I believe. Supposedly Gen. Phillips, in reacting to Apollo 11's off course landing, said "I want a pinpoint landing next time."

I have wondered about the validity of that statement and whether Phillips ever said that. I tend to think not and that a demanding assignment like a pinpoint landing would have come from an ambitious engineer in the program and not from senior management.

When was the pinpoint landing (the retrieval of Surveyor parts) first discussed and assigned to the Apollo 12 mission?

Headshot
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posted 11-04-2018 07:19 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Headshot   Click Here to Email Headshot     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Actually Apollo 12 was officially/formally targeted for Oceanus Procellarum only after Apollo 11 landed at Mare Tranquillitatis and safely returned to Earth. Had the launch of Apollo 11 been delayed a few days, Eagle might have landed at at ALS 5 in Oceanus Procellarum and then Intrepid would have been targeted for ALS 2, Mare Tranquillitatis, or ALS 3, Sinus Medii. It was always NASA's intention to sample a "red" and "blue" mare with the first two Apollo landing missions. The order of the sampling was unimportant.

As far as the pinpoint landing and Surveyor parts issues, again "To A Rocky Moon" has those answers, although you may have to check out the footnotes.

Jim_Voce
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posted 11-04-2018 05:37 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim_Voce   Click Here to Email Jim_Voce     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have a copy of "To A Rocky Moon" on order right now (thanks to Headshot and Blackarrow for suggesting it).

Headshot
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posted 11-04-2018 08:03 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Headshot   Click Here to Email Headshot     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Good show! I have read it three times and reference it a lot. Wilhelms provides a perspective from a lunar geologist that is not at all dry, clearly written, colorful, and very illuminating. It is one of the few truly great books on lunar exploration.

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