The 1966 Lunar Orbiter 2 robotic spacecraft mission, part of the

Lunar Orbiter Program The Lunar Orbiter program was a series of five uncrewed lunar orbiter missions launched by the United States from 1966 through 1967. Intended to help select Apollo landing sites by mapping the Moon's surface, they provided the first photographs f ...

, was designed primarily to photograph smooth areas of the

lunar surface The geology of the Moon (sometimes called selenology, although the latter term can refer more generally to " lunar science") is quite different from that of Earth. The Moon lacks a true atmosphere, which eliminates erosion due to weather. It does ...

for selection and verification of safe landing sites for the Surveyor and

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

missions. It was also equipped to collect selenodetic, radiation intensity, and micrometeoroid impact data.

Mission Summary

The spacecraft was placed in a

cislunar Outer space, commonly shortened to space, is the expanse that exists beyond Earth and its atmosphere and between celestial bodies. Outer space is not completely empty—it is a near-perfect vacuum containing a low density of particles, predo ...

trajectory and injected into an elliptical near-equatorial lunar orbit for data acquisition after 92.6 hours' flight time. The initial orbit was at an inclination of 11.8 degrees. The perilune was lowered to five days later after 33 orbits. A failure of the amplifier on the final day of readout, December 7, resulted in the loss of six photographs. On December 8, 1966 the inclination was altered to 17.5 degrees to provide new data on lunar gravity. The spacecraft acquired photographic data from November 18 to 25, 1966, and readout occurred through December 7, 1966. A total of 609 high-resolution and 208 medium-resolution frames were returned, most of excellent quality with resolutions down to . These included a spectacular oblique picture of Copernicus crater, which was dubbed by the news media as one of the great pictures of the century. The photo was taken on the 23rd November at an altitude of 45km. Accurate data were acquired from all other experiments throughout the mission. Three micrometeorite impacts were recorded. The spacecraft was used for tracking purposes until it impacted upon the lunar surface on command at 3.0 degrees N latitude, 119.1 degrees E longitude (

selenographic coordinates The selenographic coordinate system is used to refer to locations on the surface of Earth's moon. Any position on the lunar surface can be referenced by specifying two numerical values, which are comparable to the latitude and longitude of Earth. ...

) on October 11, 1967. In 2011, NASA's

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a NASA robotic spacecraft currently orbiting the Moon in an eccentric polar mapping orbit. Data collected by LRO have been described as essential for planning NASA's future human and robotic missions t ...

Camera (LROC) was able to locate and image the precise impact point of the spacecraft. The debris from an impact angle of 45 degrees or more spreads out like butterfly wings. Lunar Orbiter 2 coverage

Image:Lunar Orbiter 2.jpg, Photograph taken by Lunar Orbiter 2 on November 20, 1966, above the lunar surface, over the Sea of Tranquility.

References

{{NASA space program 2 Spacecraft launched in 1966 Spacecraft that orbited the Moon Spacecraft that impacted the Moon 1967 on the Moon

Mission Summary

See also

References