The Sword and Laser discussion

Dunno off-hand. But books like that like my kind of SciFi!

If you don't mind older work, Murray Leinster's The Planet Explorer (also known of as Colonial Survey) deals specifically with space survey. It is a bit dated (1956), but still a good read.
Classic SF!

Shards of Honour started with Cordelia's survey team running into trouble.

Dinosaur Planet was about a planetary survey team.

Expendable by James Alan Gardner springs immediately to mind. It's been a while since I read it, but I remember enjoying it. Gardner starts with a unique take on how an advanced society selects/motivates its explorers and things just get more interesting from there.

Maybe Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds?

This goes way back, but when I was a wee tween, back before tween was even a word, I read The Voyage of the Space Beagle by A.E. van Vogt. As the name implies, it was a space opera about a survey mission.

Tyler wrote: "Maybe Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds?"

Pushing Ice is a damn good book, but it isn't about space survey.

You might consider the Roche World series by Robert Forward. I haven't read them yet but my husband has loved them. Might also consider Camelot 30k by the same author.

If you like Expendable, try Ascending, in the same universe, which is my favorite League of Peoples book.

Rob wrote: "Expendable by James Alan Gardner springs immediately to mind. It's been a while since I read it, but I remember enjoying it. Gardner starts with a unique take on how an advanced society selects/m..."

Good call Rob that was the first book that sprang to mind for me.