Shadow of Surveyor 1
Image of Surveyor 1’s shadow against the lunar surface in the late lunar afternoon, with the horizon at the upper right. The Surveyor program was a NASA program that, from June 1966 through January 1968, sent seven robotic spacecraft to the surface of the Moon. Its primary goal was to demonstrate the feasibility of soft landings on the Moon. Surveyor 1, the first of the five 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.