- SUPERB COLLECTION OF VINTAGE PRESS MATERIAL RELATING TO NASA'S SURVEYOR MISSIONS -

SURVEYOR PROGRAM (a NASA program that, from June 1966 through January 1968, sent seven robotic spacecraft to the surface of the Moon. Its primary goal was to demonstrate the feasibility of soft landings on the Moon. The Surveyor craft were the first American spacecraft to achieve soft landing on an extra-terrestrial body. The missions called for the craft to travel directly to the Moon on an impact trajectory, a journey that lasted 63 to 65 hours, and ended with a deceleration of just over three minutes to a soft landing. The program was implemented by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to prepare for the Apollo program. Five of the Surveyor craft successfully soft-landed on the Moon, including the first one. The other two failed: Surveyor 2 crashed at high velocity after a failed mid-course correction, and Surveyor 4 lost contact (possibly exploding) 2.5 minutes before its scheduled touch-down.)

Four original vintage pre-launch illustrated press packs for four of the Surveyor missions, May 1966-Aug 1967, WITH the original large 'Press Briefing' - with much photographic material - giving the preliminary scientific results of Surveyor 3.

Press Kits - (Pasadena): Jet Propulsion Laboratory [JPL], May 1966; and (Washington, D. C.), National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA], Apr, Jul and Aug 1967. 49pp, 39pp, 41pp and 42pp, and each with additional full page b/w illustrations inserted outside of the pagination. Vintage paperbacks, staple-bound. Size: 4to - three of 25.7cm x 20.5cm / 10.5in x 8in, and one slightly larger). Press Briefing - (Washington, D.C.): National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA], 1966. 60pp, plus a large number of full-page b/w illustrations inserted outside of the pagination. Vintage paperback, staple bound. Size: 4to - 25.7cm x 20.5cm / 10.5in x 8in.

Very Good condition. Light edge wear and corner creasing. Minor oxidisation to staples. First leaf of one press kit has detached from the staple but is still present. Results briefing with plate numbers added in manuscript in the text. Please ask if you require a more detailed condition report, or view gallery images closely.

A fabulous collection of original vintage press packs for four of the five Surveyor missions (I, III, IV and V) together with the original vintage 'Press Briefing' giving the preliminary scientific results for Surveyor III. The first of the pre-launch press packs was published by JPL and the other 3 plus the scientific findings pack by NASA. 

Provenance: from a private collection in the U.K.