A LABORATORY ON THE MOON
Surveyors 3 through 7 each carried a robotic arm and sampling scoop to test the lunar surface for hardness, collect soil samples for onboard analysis, and move instruments about on the surface of the Moon. The arm was guided from Earth, with a television camera serving as the operator's eye.

Surveyor 3's sampler had just made contact with the lunar surface when this television image was transmitted on April 21, 1967.

Surveyor 3 had been on the Moon for two and a half years when the Apollo 12 crew arrived in 1969. Astronauts Charles Conrad Jr. and Alan Bean removed its television camera, surface sampler, and some tubing and brought them back to Earth for analysis. Their lunar landing module is in the background.

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-- -- TIMELINE -- --


Racing to Space
The Moon decision
To reach the moon
Apollo 11
Later Apollo missions
What we learned about the Moon
After the Apollo Program


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Created: 7/99