Surveyor 5 was the fifth lunar lander of the Surveyor program sent to explore the surface of the Moon.
Surveyor 5 landed on Mare Tranquillitatis. A total of 19,049 images were transmitted to Earth.
The mission experienced a helium leak that could have resulted in failure. An improvised landing sequence was successful and data was received for 2 weeks after the landing. A miniature chemical analysis lab using an alpha particle backscatter device w...
more
Surveyor 5 was the fifth lunar lander of the Surveyor program sent to explore the surface of the Moon.
Surveyor 5 landed on Mare Tranquillitatis. A total of 19,049 images were transmitted to Earth.
The mission experienced a helium leak that could have resulted in failure. An improvised landing sequence was successful and data was received for 2 weeks after the landing. A miniature chemical analysis lab using an alpha particle backscatter device was used to determine the lunar surface soil consisted of basaltic rock. A similar instrument, the APXS, was used onboard several Mars missions.
Surveyor 5 was the third spacecraft in the Surveyor series to achieve a successful lunar soft landing. The spacecraft had a basic triangular structure of aluminum tubing that provided mounting surfaces for engineering and scientific equipment. The objectives were to obtain postlanding television pictures of the lunar surface, conduct a Vernier engine erosion experiment, determine the relative abundance...
less
