The first scientific experiments
The first scientific experiments
The Apollo Program was an enormously fruitful project for planetary research. Robotic spacecraft from the Ranger, Lunar Orbiter and Surveyor series were sent to the Moon in preparation for safe landings, and transmitted thousands of images to Earth. What previously could only be observed with telescopes at a resolution no better than one or two kilometres could now be seen in images with a resolution more than 10 times higher in some cases. On the Moon, all six Apollo missions had extensive experimental packages with them, which left hardly anything to be desired by the geoscientists, astronomers and physicists involved. During the first Moon landing, a seismometer was installed that passively recorded vibrations of the lunar surface even after the mission – including the impact of the Lunar Module after its separation and descent to the surface.
