Three unmanned spacecraft programs did the reconnaissance work before NASA risked a human crew on the Moon: Ranger, which crash-landed cameras onto the surface for close-range photography in its final minutes; Surveyor, which touched down intact to test the ground itself; and Lunar Orbiter, which mapped the terrain from above. This NASA film walks through what each program returned, close-up images of craters and mountain ranges sharp enough to plan a landing site, and explains how that photographic and engineering data fed directly into the first manned lunar flights. The tone is procedural rather than dramatic, narrated like a technical briefing, tracking the sequence from robotic scouting to human-ready intelligence. The film carries the National Archives designation ARC 45011 and won two period honors, the Golden Eagle Certificate from the Council on International Nontheatrical Events and the Award of Merit at the American Film Festival, both in 1968. It works as a document of how much unmanned engineering had to succeed before Apollo could attempt a crewed landing.