united states'apollo 11 launched the first spacecraft to reach the lunar surface.
who launched the first spacecraft to reach the lunar surface?
united states'apollo 11
the soviet union sent the first spacecraft to the vicinity of the moon, the robotic vehicle luna 1, on january 4, 1959. it passed within of the moon's surface, but did not achieve lunar orbit. luna 3, launched on october 4, 1959, was the first robotic spacecraft to complete a circumlunar free return trajectory, still not a lunar orbit, but a figure-8 trajectory which swung around the far side of the moon and returned to the earth. this craft provided the first pictures of the far side of the lunar surface.
lunar orbit
the soil mechanics surface sampler was designed to dig, scrape, and trench the lunar surface and to transport lunar surface material while being photographed so that the properties of the lunar surface could be determined. the sampler was mounted below the television camera and consisted primarily of a scoop approximately 120 mm long and 50 mm wide. the scoop consisted of a container, a sharpened blade, and an electric motor to open and close the container. a small footpad was attached to the scoop door to present a flat surface to the lunar surface. the scoop was capable of holding a maximum quantity of approximately 32 mm diameter of solid lunar material and a maximum of 100 cm³ of granular material. the scoop was mounted on a pantograph arm that could be extended about 1.5 m or retracted close to the spacecraft motor drive. the arm could also be moved from an azimuth of +40 to -72 degrees or be elevated 130 mm by motor drives. it could also be dropped onto the lunar surface under force provided by gravity and a spring. the surface sampler performed seven bearing tests, four trench tests, and 13 impact tests. the total operating time was 18 hours, 22 minutes on 10 separate occasions. measurements of motor currents and forces applied to the surface were not obtained due to the state of the spacecraft telemetry following landing on the lunar surface. however, estimations were possible. the small spring constant of the torque spring precluded the determination of density from the impact tests. penetrations of 38 to 50 mm were obtained from the bearing tests, and a 175 mm depth was reached during trenching operations. the design of the mechanism and its electronic auxiliary was more than adequate for the lunar surface operations.
surveyor 3