In 1967, NASA's Surveyor 3 probe landed on the moon and fell silent, and two and a half years later Apollo 12 touched down just 600 feet away so two astronauts could walk over, photograph it and cut off its camera to carry back to Earth

In 1967, NASA's Surveyor 3 probe landed on the moon and fell silent, and two and a half years later Apollo 12 touched down just 600 feet away so two astronauts could walk over, photograph it and cut off its camera to carry back to Earth

A failed robot and two astronauts became proof that NASA could land on the moon with surgeon's precision—not just somewhere on it, but exactly where it mattered.