Lunar Orbiter 5

Lunar Orbiter 5

Spacecraft· NASA / JPLcompleted

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.

Open in 3D viewSee Lunar Orbiter 5 in the live, interactive 3D map

Key facts

Distance from Sun
1.01 AU
Status
Completed
Launched
1967

Mission & specifications

Mission

Operator
NASA / JPL
Launched
August 1, 1967
Status
Completed

Trajectory

Distance from the Sun
1.01 AU
Distance from Earth
85,341 km
Distance from Venus
0.602 AU

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

The Lunar Orbiter spacecraft — Lunar Orbiter 5 completed ~99% mapping of the Moon
NASA (public domain) · Wikimedia Commons

Images from open archives · credit shown per image