1.2 Status of Lunar Lander Technology Development Outside China
13
Fig. 1.5 Configuration of Surveyor landers
2) The landing process
The Surveyor landers were launched directly into trans-lunar orbit and then landed
on lunar surface without lunar orbit insertion. The trajectory of trans-lunar orbit
intersected lunar surface. One or two midcourse trajectory correction was performed
during trans-lunar flight. When the probe approached the Moon, powered descent
and soft-landing was performed. The flight profile of the Surveyor landers was shown
in Fig. 1.6.
It was 66 hours after launch for the Surveyor lander to perform soft-landing when
the distance to the Moon was about 96 km. The first phase was deceleration and the
second phase was powered descent. When the distance to the Moon was about 4.2 m,
the engine was powered off and the final landing velocity was less than 6 m/s.
13
Fig. 1.5 Configuration of Surveyor landers
2) The landing process
The Surveyor landers were launched directly into trans-lunar orbit and then landed
on lunar surface without lunar orbit insertion. The trajectory of trans-lunar orbit
intersected lunar surface. One or two midcourse trajectory correction was performed
during trans-lunar flight. When the probe approached the Moon, powered descent
and soft-landing was performed. The flight profile of the Surveyor landers was shown
in Fig. 1.6.
It was 66 hours after launch for the Surveyor lander to perform soft-landing when
the distance to the Moon was about 96 km. The first phase was deceleration and the
second phase was powered descent. When the distance to the Moon was about 4.2 m,
the engine was powered off and the final landing velocity was less than 6 m/s.