Word: soils
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...Propulsion Laboratory, Surveyor 3 last week continued to show remarkable versatility on the surface of the moon. It shot and transmitted hundreds of pictures, took the moon's temperature, did some scientific stargazing, dug trenches, uncovered a buried rock, and even played around with a bit of lunar soil...
With its facile, steel-tipped aluminum claw, which can be extended to 5 ft., Surveyor dug and photographed more trenches, helping to confirm its earlier finding that the soil at the surface in this area of the Ocean of Storms is dry and granular but has the cohesiveness of wet sand. By measuring the current drawn by the electric motors that operated the claw, JPL scientists determined that the surrounding surface has a bearing strength of 6 lbs. per sq. in., more than enough to support the Apollo astronauts...
Half-Inch Accuracy. Surveyor's virtuoso performance was still to come. Noticing a clod of soil dug out of one of its trenches, the craft closed its claw on the clump, biting off about two cubic inches of soil. Carefully clutching its prize, Surveyor maneuvered it into position and then dropped it on one of its footpads, much like a child dropping a handful of sand on its shoe...
Surveyor had serious reasons for its frisky behavior. Rotating a series of color filters in front of its TV camera, it shot pictures of the soil scattered on its white footpad-which made an ideal photographic background. Scientists will compare the shade of the soil in black and white pictures with a color-coded wheel that is attached to Surveyor's leg and is visible in each picture. From the comparison, they hope to determine the approximate color of the soil. "We placed the soil just where we wanted it," said Caltech Engineer Ronald Scott, who supervised the experiment...
...measuring the current drawn by the electric motors that power Surveyor's arm, scientists will be able to determine the strength and compressibility of the moon's surface. Close-up TV pictures of the soil disturbed by the claw will provide additional information about its texture and cohesiveness. In last week's preliminary tests, for example, it took a pressure of 4 lbs. per sq. in. to make a dent 1½ in. deep in the lunar surface. And TV pictures demonstrated that there was little or no crum bling of the trench walls, indicating that...