- [Al Hibbs  ] We are now
well into the countdown
at approximately three
minutes before liftoff.
All systems are reported
in excellent condition
at this time.
- [Voiceover] Pressurization.
Go Atlas.
- [Voiceover] Go Centaur.
- Atlas autopilot, go.
Centaur autopilot, go.
Launch director, go.
(rocket roars)
The Atlas looks good.
Doppler readout
is nominal.
Chamber pressure looks good.
Liftoff was at 7:41
Pacific Daylight Time
on an azimuth of 102 degrees.
The aerodynamic shroud is off
and Grand Bahama is tracking.
Liftoff plus four
minutes and three seconds
as shown by the animated
diagrams in the monitor
the atlas centaur
separation has occurred.
Centaur cut off.
Surveyor is injected on
its lunar flight path.
Separation.
and report that the landing
legs are extended.
The Surveyor is now in space.
- [Voiceover] 63
hours after launch,
Surveyor 1 was only 1000
miles away from the moon.
With the speed increasing
as the moon's gravitational
attraction beckoned.
-[Voiceover] Vernier ignition.
Retro is now firing.
Ignition looks stable.
Falling steadily.
63,000 feet, 3500 MPH.
Now at 30,000 feet.
Retro burnout confirmed.
- The vehicle was
supposed to enter
a fixed rate of descent.
So that happens.
- [Hibbs] 28,000 feet
425 feet per second.
24,000 feet
falling steadily.
Down to 12,000 feet.
10,000, all signals normal.
Surveyor reported in
excellent condition.
All signals good.
1000 foot mark.
800 feet.
600.
400 feet.
200 feet.
100 feet, 13 feet
per second speed.
- [Suggs] Certain distance
above the surface
the engines are all
supposed to shut off.
And then it's supposed
to drop to the surface.
The engines all shut off.
And you could hear a pin drop.
It worked.
We're down.
It's still transmitting.
(Cheering)
- [Voiceover] Surveyor
1 touched down at 5 MPH.
A mere one second off the
intended landing time.
- [Hibbs] The moon
behind it is very dark.
- [Voiceover] For
the first time,
an American spacecraft had
achieved a soft landing
on another celestial body.
(garbled radio cheering)
Surveyor 1 operated
for six weeks.
Surprising engineers
by surviving
a bitter, cold lunar night.
In all, the sturdy
lander sent back
more than 11,000 images before
its batteries ceased to work.
Surveyor 1 now rests
where it landed in 1966.
Telling us of its presence
by casting a silent, but long
shadow on the lunar surface.
Six more Surveyors were launched
over the next two years,
providing a treasure trove
of science about the moon.
Although two of the
missions would fail,
the increasing ratio
of success to failure
demonstrated that JPL
was clearly learning
from its past mistakes.
And NASA had the
answer to its question.
The lunar surface was
solid and suitable
for landing by the
Apollo astronauts.
