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| A Surveyor 5 launch cover from "SpaceCraft Swanson", postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on September 8, 1967, signed by Benjamin MilwitZky, the Surveyor Project Manager. |
Surveyor 5, launched on 8 September 1967, carried an alpha-ray scattering experimental package to conduct chemical tests on the soil composition.
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| A Surveyor 5 launch cover featuring a rubber-stamped cachet depicting the Surveyor spacecraft, postmarked at Kennedy Space Center with a machine cancel on September 8, 1967. |
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| A Surveyor 5 moon landing cover from "Orbit Covers", postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on September 11, 1967. |
Despite a serious helium leak that occurred during its trip to the Moon, Surveyor 5 touchdown successfully on September 11, 1967. Once on the ground, experiment work began to test analyzed the soil beneath it. The experiment indicated the existence of basalt and silicon. Surveyor 5 survived a lunar night and commenced operations again on October 15. The final transmission from the spacecraft was received on 17 December 1967.
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| Photo: Surveyor 5 landed on the Sea of Tranquility on September 11, 1967. |
