Lunar Orbiter 5 was launched on August 1st, 1967 and entered an elliptical
near polar high lunar orbit on August 5th,
1967. A total of 633 high resolution and 211 medium resolution
pictures at resolution down to 2 meters were acquired, bringing the cumulative
photographic coverage by the 5 Lunar Orbiters to 99% of the Moon's surface.
Surveyor 5
Surveyor 5 was launched on September 8th, 1967 and touched down on the
Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility)
on September 11th, 1967.
Surveyor 5 returned 18,006 pictures during its first lunar day. An
alpha-scattering instrument was deployed and performed the first in-situ
analysis of an extraterrestrial body, returning 83 hours of data on lunar soil
composition during the first lunar day, A vernier engine erosion experiment was
conducted, consisting of a firing of the vernier engines for 0.55 seconds while
the spacecraft sat on the ground to examine the effects of the engines on the surface.
An additional 1048 pictures and 22 hours of alpha-scattering data were received
during the second lunar day. Throughout four lunar days, 19,118 pictures were
transmitted.
Surveyor 6
Surveyor 6 was launched on November 7th, 1967 and landed in Sinus Medii
on November 10th, 1967.
The probe returned a total of 29,952 images. The alpha-scattering experiment
acquired 30 hours of data on the surface material. On 17 November the vernier
engines were fired for 2.5 seconds, causing Surveyor to lift off the lunar
surface 3 to 4 meters and land about 2.4 meters west of its original position.
This lunar "hop" represented the first powered takeoff from the lunar
surface and furnished new information on the effects of firing rocket engines
on the Moon, allowed viewing of the original landing site, and provided a
baseline for stereoscopic viewing and photogrammetric mapping of the
surrounding terrain.