Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. This panorama of the cratered lunar surface was constructed from images returned by the US Surveyor 6 lander. After the spacecraft touched down near the center of the Moon's nearside in November of 1967, NASA controllers commanded it to hop . Briefly firing its rocket engine and lifting itself some 4 meters above the surface, the Surveyor moved about 2.5 meters to one side before setting down again. The hopping success of Surveyor 6 essentially marked the completion of the Surveyor series main mission - to determine if the lunar terrain was safe for the planned Apollo landings .
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