Editing Space Race (section)

=== Lunar probes and robotic landers ===

[[File:First Photo from the Surface of the Moon.jpg|thumb|First photo of the surface of the Moon, taken by Luna 9]]

The [[Ranger program]], started in 1959 by NASA's [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]], aimed to conduct hard impacts on the Moon and had its first success in 1962, after three failures due to launch aborts ([[Ranger 1]] and [[Ranger 2]]) and a failure to reach the Moon ([[Ranger 3]]), when the {{convert|730|lb|kg|adj=on}} [[Ranger 4]] became the first US spacecraft to reach the Moon, but its [[photovoltaic module|solar panel]]s and navigational system failed near the Moon and it impacted the far side without returning any scientific data. [[Ranger 5]] ran out of power and missed the Moon by {{convert|725|km|nmi|sp=us}} on October 21, 1962. The first successful Ranger mission was the {{convert|806|lb|kg|adj=on}} Block III [[Ranger 7]] which impacted on July 31, 1964.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2018|p=41}} Ranger had three successful impacts out of nine attempts.<ref>{{cite web |title=National Space Science Data Center – Ranger 6 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1964-007A |access-date=June 19, 2012 |publisher=National Air and Space Administration |ref=nssdc1964-007A}}</ref>

In 1963, the Soviet Union's "2nd Generation" Luna programme was less successful than the earlier Luna probes; [[Luna 4]], [[Luna 5]], [[Luna 6]], [[Luna 7]], and [[Luna 8]] were all met with mission failures. However, in 1966 the [[Luna 9]] achieved the first soft-landing on the Moon, and successfully transmitted photography from the surface.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luna 9 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-006A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> [[Luna 10]] marked the first man-made object to establish an orbit around the Moon,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luna 10 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-027A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> followed by [[Luna 11]], [[Luna 12]], and [[Luna 14]] which also successfully established orbits. [[Luna 12]] was able to transmit detailed photography of the surface from orbit.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luna 12 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-094A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> Luna 10, 12, and [[Luna 14]] conducted [[Gamma ray spectrometry]] of the Moon, among other tests.

The [[Zond program]]me was orchestrated alongside the ''Luna'' programme with [[Zond 1]] and [[Zond 2]] launching in 1964, intended as flyby missions, however both failed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zond 1 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1964-016D |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Zond 2 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1964-078C |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> [[Zond 3]] however was successful, and transmitted high quality photography from the far side of the moon.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zond 3 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1965-056A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Zond 3 photography |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1965-056A-01 |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref>

[[File:Moon landing map.jpg|thumb|left|The near side of the Moon, showing Luna probe landing locations with red triangles, Surveyor in yellow, and the later Apollo landings in Green]]

Partly to aid the Apollo missions, the [[Surveyor program]] was conducted by NASA, with five successful soft landings out of seven attempts from 1966 to 1968. The [[Lunar Orbiter program]] had five successes out of five attempts in 1966–1967.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lunar Orbiter to the Moon (1966 - 1967) |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/lunarorb.html |access-date=2024-11-23 |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Lunar Orbiter Program - NASA Science |url=https://science.nasa.gov/mission/lunar-orbiters-program/ |access-date=2024-11-23 |website=science.nasa.gov |date=September 11, 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref>

In late 1966, [[Luna 13]] became the third spacecraft to make a soft-landing on the Moon, with the American [[Surveyor 1]] having now taken second. Luna 13 made use of inflatable air-bags to soften it's landing.<ref name="Luna 13">{{Cite web |title=Luna 13 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-116A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-12-24 |title=The Mission of Luna 13: Christmas 1966 on the Moon |url=https://www.drewexmachina.com/2016/12/24/the-mission-of-luna-13-christmas-1966-on-the-moon/ |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=Drew Ex Machina |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=USSR - Luna 13 |url=https://www.orbitalfocus.uk/Diaries/Luna/Luna13.php |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=www.orbitalfocus.uk}}</ref> Surveyor 1 was a 995&nbsp;kg lander, notably larger than the 112&nbsp;kg Luna 13 E-6M lander.<ref name="Luna 13"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Luna E-6M |url=http://www.astronautix.com/l/lunae-6m.html |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=www.astronautix.com}}</ref> Surveyor 1 was equipped with a [[Doppler velocity sensor|Doppler velocity sensing system]] that fed information into the spacecraft computer to implement a controllable descent to the surface. Each of the three landing pads also carried aircraft-type shock absorbers and strain gauges to provide data on landing characteristics, important for future Apollo missions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Surveyor 1 - NASA Science |url=https://science.nasa.gov/mission/surveyor-1/ |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=science.nasa.gov |date=December 27, 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Surveyor 1 - Moon Missions - NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory |url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/surveyor-1/ |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Surveyor 3]], which successfully touched down on the Moon April 20, 1967, carried a 'surface sampler' which facilitated tests of the Lunar soil. Based on these experiments, scientists concluded that lunar soil had a consistency similar to wet sand, with a bearing strength of about 10 pounds per square inch (0.7 kilograms per square centimeter, or 98 kilopascals), which was concluded to be solid enough to support an Apollo Lunar Module.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Surveyor 3 - NASA Science |url=https://science.nasa.gov/mission/surveyor-3/ |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=science.nasa.gov |date=December 27, 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref> The Surveyor 3 lander would be later visited by [[Apollo 12]] astronauts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Astronauts Pay a Visit to Surveyor 3 - NASA |url=https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/astronauts-pay-visit-surveyor-3/ |access-date=2024-12-09 |language=en-US}}</ref>

On Nov. 17, 1967, before mission termination, [[Surveyor 6]] fired its thrusters for 2.5 seconds, becoming the first spacecraft launched from the lunar surface. It rose about 10 feet (3 meters) before landing 8 feet (2.5 meters) west of its original spot. Cameras then examined the original landing site to assess the soil's properties.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Surveyor 6 - NASA Science |url=https://science.nasa.gov/mission/surveyor-6/ |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=science.nasa.gov |date=December 27, 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Surveyor 6 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1967-112A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref>