Lunar Orbiter 5
Lunar Orbiter 5 — the last of the five (launched 1 August 1967). From a polar orbit it completed the high-resolution mapping of the far side and remaining gaps, bringing total coverage to about 99% of the Moon. It was commanded to impact in January 1968.
Key facts
Mission & specifications
Mission
- Operator
- NASA / JPL
- Launched
- August 1, 1967
- Status
- Completed
Trajectory
- Distance from the Sun
- 1.01 AU
- Computed from the cached position
- Distance from Earth
- 0.903 AU
- Computed from cached positions
- Distance from Mercury
- 0.618 AU
- Computed from cached positions
Mission
Lunar Orbiter 5 finished the job. Launched on 1 August 1967, the last of the five flew a polar orbit and concentrated on high-resolution imaging of the far side and the scientific targets its predecessors had not covered, along with a final check of Apollo sites. Between it and Lunar Orbiter 4, the programme had now photographed roughly 99% of the Moon — the first near-complete map of another world. Its work complete, it was deliberately crashed into the Moon in January 1968. The Lunar Orbiters had drawn the map; the Surveyors were already proving a spacecraft could land on it.
Images
Images from open archives · credit shown per image