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Mission record

Surveyor 3

Also known as Surveyor3, Surveyor-C

NASA · Launched

Explore trajectory

Completed · Success

The second Surveyor spacecraft to achieve a lunar soft landing; it carried a surface sampler that dug trenches in the lunar soil while its television camera recorded the effects.

Destinations
Launch vehicle
Atlas-Centaur
Launch site
Cape Canaveral, United States
Countries
United States
Mission types
Lander

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Surveyor 3 launched (source GMT converted to UTC using IERS C04)

    Earth
  2. Milestone

    Surveyor 3 separated from Centaur

    Earth
  3. Milestone

    Surveyor 3 4.19 m/s midcourse correction commanded

    Earth
  4. Milestone

    Surveyor 3 vernier engines ignited for terminal descent

    Moon
  5. Milestone

    Surveyor 3 main retro motor ignited

    Moon
  6. Landing

    Surveyor 3 first touchdown event

    Moon
  7. Landing

    Surveyor 3 final touchdown after two earlier touchdown events

    Moon
  8. Mission end

    Last data returned from Surveyor 3

    Moon
  9. Milestone

    Apollo 12 astronauts visited Surveyor 3

    Moon

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Surveyor 3 · Lander

    Destinations: Moon

Trajectory record

Time-dependent navigation trajectory

Source states place the model at the selected time. Reconstructed flight, estimates, predictions and historical mission plans are identified by interval; gaps remain visible.

Source records and sampling assumptions are retained with the repository data. Model attitude and surface appearance are illustrative.

  • Surveyor 3: Bounded pre-maneuver coast and anchored surface interval · April 17, 1967 to May 4, 1967

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through October 6, 2026