Explanation:
This panorama of the cratered lunar surface was constructed from
images returned by the
US
Surveyor 6 lander.
Surveyor 6 was not the first spacecraft to
accomplish a soft landing
on the Moon ... but it was
the first to land and then lift off again!
After the spacecraft touched down near the center of the
Moon's nearside
in November of 1967, NASA controllers commanded it to hop.
Briefly firing its rocket engine
and lifting itself some 4 meters above the surface, the
Surveyor moved about 2.5 meters
to one side before setting down again.
The hopping success of Surveyor 6
essentially marked the completion of the
Surveyor series main mission -
to determine if the lunar terrain was safe for
the planned
Apollo
landings.
