1966 – First Spacecraft on the Moon
(Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
The US pulled ahead on the Space Race when NASA sent the first spacecraft to the moon. The “Surveyor 1” was the first of the Surveyor program to make a soft landing on the moon. The purpose of the surveyor program was to support the arrival of the Apollo missions which would be carrying entire crews. They were supposed to figure out the technology necessary to land on the safe on the moon and provide data on how compatible the Apollo missions were with the lunar surface. They also provided more information on the moon.