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In preparation for the Apollo 11 mission and its lunar landing module carrying humans to the Moon, NASA undertook, in the early 1960s, an ambitious program of study and mapping of the lunar surface.
Thus, three major successive programs were launched from 1961 onward to acquire the knowledge necessary to achieve the “Moon” objective:
1- The “Ranger” missions (from 23/08/1961 to 21/03/1965, for a total of 9 missions, of which only the last 3 were successful) consisted of sending rockets to the Moon designed to crash into its surface while taking photographs during their final approach phase.
2 – The “Surveyor” missions (from 06/1966 to 01/1968, for a total of 7 missions, two of which failed) consisted of sending probes intended to land softly on the lunar surface in order to take photographs, analyze lunar soil, and test soft-landing technology.
3 – The “Lunar Orbiter” missions (from 10/08/1966 to 01/08/1967, for a total of 5 missions) aimed to produce a complete cartography of the Moon.
Each of these missions produced the first photographic records of Earth’s satellite as the first extraterrestrial body visited by humankind. Subsequently, by setting foot on the Moon, humans produced a new generation of photographs that allowed a full awareness of the natural reality of the lunar world.
