Surveyor III Mission Soil Sampler Sequence 1967 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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more at http://scitech.quickfound.net/ "Footage of the Surveyor 3 on the moon!" Silent. Public domain film from NASA - JPL, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveyor_3 Surveyor 3 was the third lander of the American unmanned Surveyor program sent to explore the surface of the Moon. Launched on April 17, 1967, Surveyor 3 landed on April 20, 1967 at the Mare Cognitum portion of the Oceanus Procellarum (S3º 01' 41.43" W23º 27' 29.55") . It transmitted a total of 6,315 TV images to the Earth. As Surveyor 3 was landing (in a crater, as it turned out), highly reflective rocks confused the spacecraft's lunar descent radar. The engines failed to cut off at 14 feet (4.3 meters) in altitude as called for in the mission plans, and this delay caused the lander to bounce on the lunar surface twice. Its first bounce reached the altitude of about 35 feet (10 meters). The second bounce reached a height of about 11 feet (three meters). On the third impact with the surface — from the initial altitude of three meters, and velocity of zero, which was below the planned altitude of 14 feet (4.3 meters), and very slowly descending —Surveyor 3 settled down to a soft landing as intended. This Surveyor mission was the first one that carried a surface-soil sampling-scoop, which can be seen on its extendable arm in the pictures. This mechanism was mounted on an electric-motor-driven arm and was used to dig four trenches in the lunar soil. These trenches were up to seven inches (18 centimeters) deep. Samples of soil from the trenches were placed in front of the Surveyor's television cameras to be photographed and the pictures radioed back to the Earth. When the first lunar nightfall came on May 3, 1967, Surveyor 3 was shut down because its solar panels were no longer producing electricity. At the next lunar dawn (after 14 terrestrial days, or about 336 hours), Surveyor 3 could not be reactivated, because of the extremely cold temperatures that it had experienced. This is in contrast with the Surveyor 1, which was able to be reactivated twice after lunar nights, but then never again... Science instruments Television The television camera on Surveyor 3 consisted of a vidicon tube, two 25 and 100 millimeter focal length lenses, shutters, filters, and an iris... Soil mechanics surface sampler The soil mechanics surface sampler was designed to dig, scrape, and trench the lunar surface and to transport lunar surface material while being photographed so that the properties of the lunar surface could be determined. The sampler was mounted below the television camera and consisted primarily of a scoop approximately 120 mm long and 50 mm wide. The scoop consisted of a container, a sharpened blade, and an electric motor to open and close the container. A small footpad was attached to the scoop door to present a flat surface to the lunar surface. The scoop was capable of holding a maximum quantity of approximately 32 mm diameter of solid lunar material and a maximum of 100 cm³ of granular material. The scoop was mounted on a pantograph arm that could be extended about 1.5 m or retracted close to the spacecraft motor drive. The arm could also be moved from an azimuth of +40 to -72 degrees or be elevated 130 mm by motor drives. It could also be dropped onto the lunar surface under force provided by gravity and a spring. The surface sampler performed seven bearing tests, four trench tests, and 13 impact tests. The total operating time was 18 hours, 22 minutes on 10 separate occasions. Measurements of motor currents and forces applied to the surface were not obtained due to the state of the spacecraft telemetry following landing on the lunar surface. However, estimations were possible. The small spring constant of the torque spring precluded the determination of density from the impact tests. Penetrations of 38 to 50 mm were obtained from the bearing tests, and a 175 mm depth was reached during trenching operations... Apollo 12... The Surveyor 3 landing site was later selected also as the landing target for the Lunar Module of the Apollo 12 manned lunar mission in 1969. Several components of the Surveyor 3 lander were collected and returned to the Earth for study of the long-term exposure effects of the harsh lunar environment on man-made objects and materials... this remains the only occasion in which humans have visited a probe that had been sent to another world... Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter In 2009, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed the Surveyor 3 landing site in some detail, in which surrounding astronaut foot tracks could also be seen. In 2011, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter returned to the landing site at a lower altitude to take higher resolution photographs. http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/584398main_M168353795RE_25cm_AP12_area.jpg

Surveyor III Mission Soil Sampler Sequence 1967 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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• published: 02 May 2013
• views: 3097

more at http://scitech.quickfound.net/ "Footage of the Surveyor 3 on the moon!" Silent. Public domain film from NASA - JPL, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveyor_3 Surveyor 3 was the third lander of the American unmanned Surveyor program sent to explore the surface of the Moon. Launched on April 17, 1967, Surveyor 3 landed on April 20, 1967 at the Mare Cognitum portion of the Oceanus Procellarum (S3º 01' 41.43" W23º 27' 29.55") . It transmitted a total of 6,315 TV images to the Earth. As Surveyor 3 was landing (in a crater, as it turned out), highly reflective rocks confused the spacecraft's lunar descent radar. The engines failed to cut off at 14 feet (4.3 meters) in altitude as called for in the mission plans, and this delay caused the lander to bounce on the lunar surface twice. Its first bounce reached the altitude of about 35 feet (10 meters). The second bounce reached a height of about 11 feet (three meters). On the third impact with the surface — from the initial altitude of three meters, and velocity of zero, which was below the planned altitude of 14 feet (4.3 meters), and very slowly descending —Surveyor 3 settled down to a soft landing as intended. This Surveyor mission was the first one that carried a surface-soil sampling-scoop, which can be seen on its extendable arm in the pictures. This mechanism was mounted on an electric-motor-driven arm and was used to dig four trenches in the lunar soil. These trenches were up to seven inches (18 centimeters) deep. Samples of soil from the trenches were placed in front of the Surveyor's television cameras to be photographed and the pictures radioed back to the Earth. When the first lunar nightfall came on May 3, 1967, Surveyor 3 was shut down because its solar panels were no longer producing electricity. At the next lunar dawn (after 14 terrestrial days, or about 336 hours), Surveyor 3 could not be reactivated, because of the extremely cold temperatures that it had experienced. This is in contrast with the Surveyor 1, which was able to be reactivated twice after lunar nights, but then never again... Science instruments Television The television camera on Surveyor 3 consisted of a vidicon tube, two 25 and 100 millimeter focal length lenses, shutters, filters, and an iris... Soil mechanics surface sampler The soil mechanics surface sampler was designed to dig, scrape, and trench the lunar surface and to transport lunar surface material while being photographed so that the properties of the lunar surface could be determined. The sampler was mounted below the television camera and consisted primarily of a scoop approximately 120 mm long and 50 mm wide. The scoop consisted of a container, a sharpened blade, and an electric motor to open and close the container. A small footpad was attached to the scoop door to present a flat surface to the lunar surface. The scoop was capable of holding a maximum quantity of approximately 32 mm diameter of solid lunar material and a maximum of 100 cm³ of granular material. The scoop was mounted on a pantograph arm that could be extended about 1.5 m or retracted close to the spacecraft motor drive. The arm could also be moved from an azimuth of +40 to -72 degrees or be elevated 130 mm by motor drives. It could also be dropped onto the lunar surface under force provided by gravity and a spring. The surface sampler performed seven bearing tests, four trench tests, and 13 impact tests. The total operating time was 18 hours, 22 minutes on 10 separate occasions. Measurements of motor currents and forces applied to the surface were not obtained due to the state of the spacecraft telemetry following landing on the lunar surface. However, estimations were possible. The small spring constant of the torque spring precluded the determination of density from the impact tests. Penetrations of 38 to 50 mm were obtained from the bearing tests, and a 175 mm depth was reached during trenching operations... Apollo 12... The Surveyor 3 landing site was later selected also as the landing target for the Lunar Module of the Apollo 12 manned lunar mission in 1969. Several components of the Surveyor 3 lander were collected and returned to the Earth for study of the long-term exposure effects of the harsh lunar environment on man-made objects and materials... this remains the only occasion in which humans have visited a probe that had been sent to another world... Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter In 2009, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed the Surveyor 3 landing site in some detail, in which surrounding astronaut foot tracks could also be seen. In 2011, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter returned to the landing site at a lower altitude to take higher resolution photographs. http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/584398main_M168353795RE_25cm_AP12_area.jpg