Surveyor crater is a small crater in

Oceanus Procellarum Oceanus Procellarum ( ; from ) is a vast lunar mare on the western edge of the near side of the Moon. It is the only one of the lunar maria to be called an "Oceanus" (ocean), due to its size: Oceanus Procellarum is the largest of the maria ("s ...

on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

. The name of the crater was formally adopted by the

IAU The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

in 1973. On April 20, 1967, the

Surveyor 3 Surveyor 3 is the third lander of the American uncrewed Surveyor program sent to explore the surface of the Moon in 1967 and the second to successfully land. It was the first mission to carry a surface-soil sampling-scoop. Surveyor 3 was vis ...

spacecraft landed within the crater near the east rim. Surveyor 3 was the third lander of the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

uncrewed

Surveyor program 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 landing (rocketry), soft landings on the Moo ...

sent to explore the surface of the Moon. The

Apollo 12 Apollo 12 (November 14–24, 1969) was the sixth crewed flight in the United States Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. It was launched on November 14, 1969, by NASA from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Commander Charles ...

astronauts

Pete Conrad Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. (June 2, 1930 – July 8, 1999) was an American NASA astronaut, aeronautical engineer, naval officer, aviator, and test pilot who commanded the Apollo 12 mission, on which he became the third person to walk on t ...

and

Alan Bean Alan LaVern Bean (March 15, 1932 – May 26, 2018) was an American naval officer and aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, NASA astronaut and painter. He was selected to become an astronaut by NASA in 1963 as part of Astronaut Grou ...

landed the

Lunar Module The Apollo Lunar Module (LM ), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lunar lander spacecraft that was flown between lunar orbit and the Moon's surface during the United States' Apollo program. It was the first crewed s ...

(LM) ''Intrepid'' north of Surveyor crater on November 19, 1969, and eventually walked over to Surveyor 3. During their descent, Surveyor crater was a major landmark, and is the largest crater at the landing site. To the west of Surveyor is

Head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

crater. To the southwest are Bench crater and

Sharp Sharp or SHARP may refer to: Acronyms * SHARP (helmet ratings) (Safety Helmet Assessment and Rating Programme), a British motorcycle helmet safety rating scheme * Self Help Addiction Recovery Program, a charitable organisation founded in 199 ...

crater (now called Sharp-Apollo). To the south is

Halo HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to: Most common meanings * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head * ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021) Arts and en ...

crater. A distinct crater on the northeast rim is called ''Block'' crater. Block crater was described in the ''Apollo 12 Preliminary Science Report'': :At Block Crater, high on the north wall of Surveyor Crater, nearly all the ejected blocks are sharply angular, which suggests that the crater is very young. Many of the blocks clearly show lines of vesicles similar in appearance to vesicular lavas on Earth. The blocks are probably derived from the older, coarse blocky ejecta deposit underlying the rim that resulted from the Surveyor Crater event. The regolith at Block Crater may be a meter or less thick. Surveyor crater AS12-46-6746-6748-6763

Block crater AS12-48-7144-7145-7146-7147

Samples

Many samples were collected in and around Surveyor crater. Samples taken near the LM on the north rim of Surveyor crater include drive tube sample 12026, and contingency samples 12073 (regolith

breccia Breccia ( , ; ) is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or Rock (geology), rocks cementation (geology), cemented together by a fine-grained matrix (geology), matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language ...

) and 12075 (

olivine The mineral olivine () is a magnesium iron Silicate minerals, silicate with the chemical formula . It is a type of Nesosilicates, nesosilicate or orthosilicate. The primary component of the Earth's upper mantle (Earth), upper mantle, it is a com ...

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

). Soil Sample 12042 was collected on the southwest rim near Halo crater. Samples 12043 (

pigeonite Pigeonite is a mineral in the clinopyroxene subgroup of the pyroxene group. It has a general formula of . The calcium cation fraction can vary from 5% to 25%, with iron and magnesium making up the rest of the cations. Pigeonite crystallizes in ...

basalt), 12044 (soil), 12051 (

ilmenite Ilmenite is a titanium-iron oxide mineral with the idealized formula . It is a weakly magnetic black or steel-gray solid. Ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium and the main source of titanium dioxide, which is used in paints, printi ...

basalt), and 12054 (glass-coated ilmenite basalt) were collected on the south rim. Samples 12056, 12062, 12063, 12064 (all ilmenite basalts), and 12065 (pigeonite basalt) were all likely collected in the interior of the crater near the east rim and northeast of the Surveyor 3 lander. Samples 12045, 12046, and 12047Sample 12047
/ref> (all ilmenite basalts) were collected at Block crater on the north rim of Surveyor crater. File:AS12-47-7008 (21472783239).jpg, Drive tube sample 12026 in the lunar soil File:AS12-48-7082 (21469505038).jpg, Samples 12043 and 12044 File:AS12-49-7318 (21495467488).jpg, Sample 12051 is in front of Commander Pete Conrad, below the gnomon File:AS12-49-7315 (21683298105).jpg, Sample 12054 near the gnomon File:Lunar Samples - Apollo 12 (S69-60580).jpg, Sample 12065 (pigeonite basalt) File:AS12-48-7031 (21034655224).jpg, Contingency samples 12073 and 12075 are in lower left

External links

Lunar Orbiter 3 The Lunar Orbiter 3 was a spacecraft launched by NASA in 1967 as part of the Lunar Orbiter program, Lunar Orbiter Program. It was designed primarily to photograph areas of the Moon, lunar surface for confirmation of safe landing sites for the S ...

imag
154 H2
used for planning the mission (landing site is left of center). *

Lunar Orbiter 1 The 1966 Lunar Orbiter 1 robotic spacecraft mission, part of NASA's Lunar Orbiter program, was the first American spacecraft to orbit the Moon. It was designed primarily to photograph smooth areas of the lunar surface for selection and verific ...

sequence of image
157158
an
159
showing the Apollo 12 landing site and vicinity

References

{{Apollo program Impact craters on the Moon Apollo 12 Surveyor program (NASA)