The Explorers' Club, № MCLVIII

Operation AXIOM: Destination Moon—The 60th Anniversary of Surveyor 1
30 May 1966-7 January 1967: The Surveyor 1 probe lifted off from Florida's Cape Kennedy Air Force Station atop an Atlas-Centaur rocket; it made the first American & second overall soft landing on the Moon (2 June) in the Flamsteed Crater on the Ocean of Storms; Surveyor 1 returned 11,237 photos until 14 July & temperature data until 7 January 1967 (except during the two-week-long lunar nights).

Commentary: The Surveyor soft-landing probes (1966-1968) continued on from the Ranger crash-landing probes (1961-1965) & were accompanied by the Lunar Orbiter satellites (1966-1967), which closely mapped the Moon's surface, all in preparation for the crewed Apollo landings (1969-1972).

Ex Luna, scientia.