Astronomy Picture of the Day 11-30-02

NASA ^ | 11-30-02 | Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell

[petuniasevan]

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2002 November 30

Surveyor Hops
Credit : Surveyor Project, NASA

Explanation: This panorama of the cratered lunar surface was constructed from images returned by the US Surveyor 6 lander. Surveyor 6 was not the first spacecraft to accomplish a soft landing on the Moon ... but it was the first to land and then lift off again! After the spacecraft touched down near the center of the Moon's nearside in November of 1967, NASA controllers commanded it to hop. Briefly firing its rocket engine and lifting itself some 4 meters above the surface, the Surveyor moved about 2.5 meters to one side before setting down again. The hopping success of Surveyor 6 essentially marked the completion of the Surveyor series main mission - to determine if the lunar terrain was safe for the planned Apollo landings.

[petuniasevan]

I think it's simply amazing that the moon missions could be accomplished in that era.
We're talking some primitive computers both at Ground Control and especially onboard the spacecraft.

Now we play around in low Earth orbit; only unmanned missions are planned for the future.

We haven't even been back to the Moon for thirty years! </rant>

[petuniasevan]

[RightWhale]

it's simply amazing that the moon missions could be accomplished in that era.

That would make it a simple task for our modern technology, no?