Official website of the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP)
1966; Boeing employees manning a tracking station near Madrid. From left, Les Kaldor, Jim Currier, Don Fries, Andy Andreas Have, Pat Fiest and Jack Keith, Bendix engineer.
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In foreground: Pat Fiest, left, and Don Fries, both Boeing engineers from Seattle. At rear, from left, Les Holgersen, Les Kaldor and John Graham.
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The Lunar Orbiter 1 robotic (unmanned) spacecraft, part of the Lunar Orbiter Program, was designed primarily to photograph smooth areas of the lunar surface for selection and verification of safe landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo missions. It was also equipped to collect selenodetic, radiation intensity, and micrometeoroid impact data.
The spacecraft was placed in an Earth parking orbit on August 10, 1966 at 19:31 (UTC). The Trans lunar injection burn occurred at 20:04 (UTC). The spacecraft experienced a temporary failure of the Canopus star tracker (probably due to stray sunlight) and overheating during its cruise to the Moon. 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.
Alternate Names: Lunar Orbiter-A, 02394
Launch Date: 1966-08-10
Launch Vehicle: Atlas-Agena D
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral, United States
Mass: 385.6 kg
Nominal Power: 375.0 W
Launch/Orbital information for Lunar Orbiter 1
Experiments on Lunar Orbiter 1
Data collections from Lunar Orbiter 1
Description
The Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft was designed primarily to photograph smooth areas of the lunar surface for selection and verification of safe landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo missions. It was also equipped to collect selenodetic, radiation intensity, and micrometeoroid impact data. The spacecraft was placed in an Earth parking orbit on 10 August 1966 at 19:31 UT and injected into a cislunar trajectory at 20:04 UT. The spacecraft experienced a temporary failure of the Canopus star tracker (probably due to stray sunlight) and overheating during its cruise to the Moon. 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.
NASA Caption: “First view of the earth and moon from space. Published in: Spaceflight Revolution: Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, by James R. Hansen. NASA History Series. NASA SP ; 4308. p ii. Caption: “The picture of the century was this first view of the earth from space. Lunar Orbiter I took the photo on 23 August 1966 on its 16th orbit just before it passed behind the moon. The photo also provided a spectacular dimensional view of the lunar surface.” Larger image
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Lunar Orbiter’s “Typical Flight sequence of Events” turned out to be quite typical indeed, as all five spacecraft performed exactly as planned. Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, (Washington: NASA, 1995), p. 340.
British Pathe: “L.S. Atlas Agena carrying Lunar Orbiter blasts off from Cape Kennedy (no tilt). L.S. Rocket in flight. Various animated shots showing Lunar Orbiters path and function on its journey round the moon. Various shots at deep space tracking station, California, as they lock onto Orbiter.”
