The Surveyor probes were the first US craft to safely land on the
moon. Launched between May 1966 and January 1968, the probes were
successors to the Ranger program (the Ranger probes crashed, taking
pictures right up to the moment of impact) intended to get close up
photos of the moon, as well as do some simple mechanical and chemical
analysis of the soil.
Of the seven launches, five successfully landed on the moon and
sent back a wealth of pictures and other data:
Surveyor 1 - Launched 02 June 1966, 06:17:37 UT - Landed Flamsteed P crater.
Surveyor 2 - Launched 20 September 1966 - Crashed on Moon 22 September 1966 (vernier engine failed to ignite - southeast of Copernicus Crater)
Surveyor 3 - Launched 17 April 1967 - Landed Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms)
Surveyor 4 - Launched 14 July 1967 - Lost Radio contact 17 July 1967 (2.5 minutes from touchdown - Sinus Medii)
Surveyor 5 - Launched 08 September 1967 - Landed Mare Tranquillitatus (Sea of Tranquility)
Surveyor 6 - Launched 07 November 1967 - Landed Sinus Medii
Surveyor 7 - Launched 07 January 1968 - Landed Tycho North Rim
The Apollo 12 mission landed only 600 feet from Surveyor 3. The astronauts retrieved a painted tube, an unpainted tube, the Surveyor 3 scoop and the television camera so that they could study the effects of long-term exposure to lunar conditions.