The 3-meter in diameter Atlas-Centaur was built by General Dynamics (whose space division is now part of Lockheed Martin) and consisted of two stages connected by an interstage adapter.

Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Surveyor 1, the first of a series of seven robotic spacecraft sent to the moon to gather data in preparation for NASA's Apollo missions, was the first spacecraft to make a true soft landing on the moon.

After 54 years, it now appears that the spent Centaur stage of AC-7, in the guise of asteroid 2020 SO, is now returning home. This was NASA's final manned mission to the moon.

Tracking of the stage’s automated C-band beacon continued until about 1¼ hours after launch. Based on its brightness and distance, 2020 SO was estimated to be about 8 meters across. While AC-7 had succeeded in sending Surveyor 2 towards the Moon, the spacecraft itself would fail it soft landing attempt. What is ballot harvesting — and should you hand your ballot to a stranger?

Astronaut David Scott, seen here, was the mission commander.

Each Apollo mission left a commemorative plaque on the surface of the moon. Please share any interesting results! The first stage was a modified Atlas D ICBM which used RP-1 and LOX as propellants for its three main engines and pair of vernier engines. When the three Apollo 15 astronauts were on their way back to Earth, command module pilot Alfred Worden completed the first deep space walk in Apollo program history. Despite the engineering challenges, this propellant combination provides up to half again as much thrust than a like mass of conventional propellants.

As such, it was one of the great successes of NASA's early lunar and interplanetary program. Apollo 12 landed approximately 600 feet from the spacecraft in the Ocean of Storms. The plaque from Apollo 11 reads, "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.". Following the completion of these initial tests, SC-2 was demated a week later for the removal of test items and final preparations for launch. But 2020 SO came no closer than about 8 million kilometers during these encounters making it too dim to detect. Four months after Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon, a second pair of astronauts got their turn. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were photographed setting up this American flag during their walk on the moon. This photo was taken from the moon's orbit where the three-astronaut crew spent 20 hours orbiting the moon 10 times. Apollo 8 was the second manned mission in the Apollo program. The Atlas first stage of AC-7 was erected on the pad at Cape Kennedy’s Launch Complex 36A on June 22, 1966 only three weeks after the launch of Surveyor 1. “Surveyor 2: Things Don’t Always Go As Planned”, Drew Ex Machina, March 13, 2017 [Post], “The Launch of Atlas-Centaur 5”, Drew Ex Machina, March 2, 2015 [Post], Marcia Dunn, “Fake asteroid? Surveyor 3 was the third lander of the American unmanned Surveyor program sent to explore the surface of the Moon in 1967.

NASA also deployed a simple sheet of aluminum foil to collect and study isotopes emanating from the sun.