The Apollo 12 Commander examines the unmanned Surveyor III spacecraft during the second extravehicular activity in 1969.

In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, Charles Conrad Jr., Apollo 12 Commander, examines the unmanned Surveyor III spacecraft during the second extravehicular activity (EVA-2) on Nov. 20, 1969. The Lunar Module (LM) "Intrepid" is in the right background.

This picture was taken by astronaut Alan L. Bean, Lunar Module pilot. The "Intrepid" landed on the Moon's Ocean of Storms only 600 feet from Surveyor III. The television camera and several other components were taken from Surveyor III and brought back to earth for scientific analysis. Surveyor III soft-landed on the Moon on April 19, 1967.

Each weekday, SPACE.com looks back at the history of spaceflight through photos (archive).