 Replica of aLunar Orbiter spacecraft | |||||||||||
| Mission type | Lunar orbiter | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | NASA | ||||||||||
| COSPAR ID | 1966-073A | ||||||||||
| SATCATno. | 2394 | ||||||||||
| Website | science.nasa.gov | ||||||||||
| Mission duration | 2 months, 19 days | ||||||||||
| Spacecraft properties | |||||||||||
| Manufacturer | Boeing | ||||||||||
| Launch mass | 386.9 kg (853 lb)[1] | ||||||||||
| Dimensions | 3.72 × 1.65 × 1.5 m (12.2 × 5.4 × 4.9 ft)[2] | ||||||||||
| Power | 375 watts[2] | ||||||||||
| Start of mission | |||||||||||
| Launch date | August 10, 1966, 19:31 (1966-08-10UTC19:31) UTC[3] | ||||||||||
| Rocket | Atlas SLV-3 Agena-D | ||||||||||
| Launch site | Cape CanaveralLC-13 | ||||||||||
| End of mission | |||||||||||
| Disposal | Deorbited | ||||||||||
| Decay date | October 29, 1966, 13:29:06 (1966-10-29UTC13:29:07) UTC[4][2] | ||||||||||
| Orbital parameters | |||||||||||
| Reference system | Selenocentric | ||||||||||
| Semi-major axis | 2,694 km (1,674 mi) | ||||||||||
| Eccentricity | 0.33 | ||||||||||
| Periselene altitude | 189.1 to 40.5 km (117.5 to 25.2 mi) | ||||||||||
| Aposelene altitude | 1,866.8 km (1,160.0 mi) | ||||||||||
| Inclination | 12 degrees | ||||||||||
| Period | 208.1 minutes | ||||||||||
| Lunar orbiter | |||||||||||
| Orbital insertion | August 14, 1966 | ||||||||||
| Impact site | 6°21′N160°43′E / 6.35°N 160.72°E /6.35; 160.72 | ||||||||||
| Orbits | 577 | ||||||||||
| Transponders | |||||||||||
| Frequency | 2295MHz[2] | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
The 1966Lunar Orbiter 1robotic spacecraft mission, part ofNASA'sLunar Orbiter program,[9] was the first American spacecraft to orbit the Moon. It was designed primarily to photograph smooth areas of thelunar surface for selection and verification of safe landing sites for theSurveyor andApollo missions. It was also equipped to collectselenodetic,radiation intensity, andmicrometeoroid impact data.
Mission controllers injected the spacecraft into aparking orbit aroundEarth on August 10, 1966, at 19:31 UTC.[10] Thetrans-lunar injection burn occurred at 20:04 UTC. The spacecraft experienced a temporary failure of theCanopus star tracker (probably due to stray sunlight) and overheating during its cruise to theMoon. The star tracker problem was resolved by navigating using the Moon as a reference, and the overheating was abated by orienting the spacecraft 36 degrees off-Sun to lower the temperature.[4]
Lunar Orbiter 1 was injected into an elliptical near-equatorial lunar orbit 92.1 hours after launch. The initial orbit was 189.1 km × 1,866.8 km (117.5 mi × 1,160.0 mi) and had a period of 3 hours 37 minutes and an inclination of 12.2 degrees.[10] On August 21,perilune was dropped to 58 km (36 mi) and on August 25 to 40.5 km (25.2 mi). The spacecraft acquired photographic data from August 18 to 29, 1966, and readout occurred through September 14, 1966.
A total of 42 high-resolution and 187 medium-resolution frames were taken and transmitted to Earth covering more than 5 million square kilometers of the Moon's surface, accomplishing about 75% of the intended mission, although a number of the early high-resolution photos showed severe smearing. It also took thefirst two pictures of Earth from the Moon.[11] Accurate data were acquired from all other experiments throughout the mission.[12]
While not disclosed until after the end of theCold War, the imaging system on the Lunar Orbiter spacecraft were the sameEastman Kodak cameras developed by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) for theSAMOS reconnaissance satellites.[13] NASA extended the camera innovation further by developing the film onboard the spacecraft and then scanning the photos for transmission via a video signal.[14]
Orbit tracking showed a slight "pear-shape" of the Moon based on the gravity field, and no micrometeorite impacts were detected. The spacecraft was tracked until it impacted the lunar surface on command at 7 degrees north latitude, 161 degrees east longitude (selenographic coordinates) on the Moon's far side on October 29, 1966, on its 577th orbit.[10] The early end of the nominal one-year mission resulted from a shortage of remaining attitude control gas and other deteriorating conditions and was planned to avoid transmission interference withLunar Orbiter 2.[10]
| Lunar Photographic Studies | Evaluation of Apollo and Surveyor landing sites |
|---|---|
| Meteoroid Detectors | Detection of micrometeoroids in the lunar environment |
| Caesium Iodide Dosimeters | Radiation environment en route to and near the Moon |
| Selenodesy | Gravitational field and physical properties of the Moon |
![The first image of Earth from the distance of the Moon, August 23, 1966. The image (frame 1102; image 102 of Lunar Orbiter 1) consists of three parts h1-h3.[15] Since its original publication its raw analog data has been used to digitally produce the image in higher resolution and clarity (see below).[16] This probe took a second such image on August 25.](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aFirst_View_of_Earth_from_Moon.jpg)
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| Related | ||
