Mission Description
Launch: 07 January 1968
Landed: 10 January 1968, 01:05:36 UT
Landing Site: Tycho Crater North Rim (41.01°S latitude, 348.59°E longitude)
Despite the more hazardous terrain in the landing area, Surveyor 7 landed without incident. During the first lunar day, 20,993 television pictures were obtained. An additional 45 pictures were obtained during the second lunar day. One potential problem developed when the alpha-scattering instrument failed to fully deploy on its own. The surface sampler was then used to place the instrument on the surface and later to move it twice. In addition to acquiring a wide variety of lunar surface data, Surveyor 7 also obtained pictures of Earth and performed star surveys. Laser beams from Earth were successfully detected by the television camera in a special test of laser-pointing techniques.
Post-sunset operations were conducted for 15 hours after local sunset at the end of the first lunar day. During these operations, additional Earth and star pictures were obtained, as were observations of the solar corona. Operation of the spacecraft was terminated 80 hours after sunset. The spacecraft was reactivated for the second lunar day on February 12, 1968, and operated until February 21, 1968.
Selection of the Target Site
The investigations in the Apollo landing zone having been satisfactorily accomplished, Surveyor 7 could be sent to an area of primarily scientific interest. The site selected was a rugged, rock-strewn ejecta blanket near Tycho Crater. The spacecraft landed less than 1.5 miles from the center of the target circle, about 18 miles north of the rim of Tycho.
Tycho Crater Imagery Taken by Lunar Orbiter