Editing Surveyor 7 (section)

===Soil Mechanics Surface Sampler===
The [[soil mechanics]] surface sampler was designed to pick up, dig, scrape, and trench the lunar surface, and transport lunar surface material while being photographed so that the properties of the lunar surface could be determined. The sampler consisted primarily of a scoop with a container, a sharpened blade, and an [[electric motor]] to open and close the container. The flat foot of the scoop incorporated two embedded rectangular horseshoe magnets. 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° or be elevated 130&nbsp;mm by motor drives. It could also be dropped onto the lunar surface under force provided by gravity and a spring. The scoop was mounted below the television camera in a position that allowed it to reach the alpha-scattering instrument in its deployed position and redeploy it to another selected location. The instrument performed 16 bearing tests, seven trenching tests, and two impact tests. It also freed the alpha-scattering instrument when it failed to deploy on the lunar surface, shaded this instrument, and moved this instrument for evaluation of other samples. Performance was flawless during 36 hours of operation between January 11 and January 23, 1968. The instrument responded to commands on February 14, 1968, which verified that it had survived the lunar night. The power system, however, was unable to support any operations.{{citation_needed|date=July 2019}}

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