Mission Description
Launch: 07 November, 1967
Landed: 10 November, 1967, 01:01:06 UT
Landing Site: Sinus Medii (0.46°N latitude, 358.63°E longitude)
The performance of Surveyor 6 on the lunar surface was virtually flawless. From touchdown until a few hours after sunset on November 24, 1967, the spacecraft transmitted 29,952 television pictures and the alpha-scattering instrument acquired 30 hours of data on the chemical composition of the lunar material.
The Surveyor 6 “Lunar Hop”
As part of the surface mechanical properties investigation, Surveyor 6 performed a “hop” maneuver, moving 2.5 meters away from its original landing area. This maneuver provided excellent views of the surface disturbances produced by the initial landing and the effects of firing rocket engines close to the lunar surface. Photography obtained after the hop contributed to the soil mechanics investigation.
On November 26, 1967, the spacecraft was placed in hibernation for the two-week lunar night. Contact with the spacecraft was resumed for a short period on December 14, 1967.
Selection of the Target Site
The landing site chosen for this mission was in Sinus Medii, in the center of of the Moon’s visible hemisphere, the last of four potential Apollo landing areas designated for investigation by the Surveyor program. The spacecraft came to rest on a nearly flat, heavily cratered mare area, about 200 meters northwest of the base of a ridge about 30 meters high.