Lunar Surface at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

A few years ago sharp debate centered about the nature of the lunar surface. One theory held that the soil was powdery, deep, and electrostatically charged. Hence, scientists feared that a landing craft might Sink out of sight beneath the surface, or that it might be enveloped in a blanket of dust. The Surveyor landing crafts put an end to these fears. They revealed that the lunar surface is covered with a fine soil that has a consistency somewhat like turned earth.

Television pictures of the lunar surface showed the marks made by Surveyor's "feet" during the second touchdown. Pictures were obtained of the inside of the crater within which the spacecraft landed; however, the Camera could not view the terrain outside the crater. The surface sampler aboard Surveyor 3 made tests of the bearing strength of the lunar soil, may explain why the highlands appear bright and the maria dark when viewing the moon through a telescope from the earth.

The rockets turned off when the Surveyor was about 10 ft (3 m) above the surface. The spacecraft was then traveling at less than 10 mph (16 km/hr) and dropped freely to the lunar surface for a gentle landing. On the surface the Surveyor extended and oriented its solar panels to generate electric power and began its various measurements.