Mission Details
| Mission Name: Lunar Orbiter 5 |
| Mission Type: Lunar Orbiter |
| Operator: NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) |
| Launching State: United States |
| Location: Near Schlüter Crater ? |
| Latitude: -2.79 |
| Longitude: -83.04 |
| Launch Date: 1 August 1967, 22:33:00 UT |
| Landing Date: 31 January 1968 |
| Objects on or Related to Site: Lunar Orbiter 5 |
| Image Source: NASA |
Description
Five Lunar Orbiter missions were launched in 1966 through 1967 with the purpose of mapping the lunar surface before the Apollo landings.
All five missions were successful, and 99% of the Moon was photographed with a resolution of 60 m or better. The first three missions were dedicated to imaging 20 potential lunar landing sites, selected based on Earth-based observations. These were flown at low inclination orbits. The fourth and fifth missions were devoted to broader scientific objectives and were flown in high altitude polar orbits.
Lunar Orbiter 5 completed the farside coverage and acquired medium (20 m) and high (2 m) resolution images of 36 pre-selected areas. Luna Orbiter 5’s primary mission was to contribute to a comprehensive map of the Moon and conduct general observational surveys.
Read more:
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/lunarorb.html
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/lunar-orbiter-5/in-depth/
Heritage Consideration
This was the last in a series of very successful mission to the map the Moon for potential landing sites.
Object on or Related to Site
| Object Name: Lunar Orbiter 5 | |
| Cospar: 1967-075A | |
| Norad: N/A | |
| Location: Precise location unknown or undisclosed. | |
| Launch Date: 1 August 1967, 22:32:00 UT | |
| Landing Date: 31 January 1968 | |
| Deployment: N/A | |
| End Date: 31 January 1968 | |
| Function: Lunar imagery. | |
| Image Source: NASA |
Description
Lunar Orbiter 5, the last of the Lunar Orbiter series, was designed to take additional Apollo and Surveyor landing site photography and to take broad survey images of unphotographed parts of the Moon’s far side. It was also equipped to collect selenodetic, radiation intensity, and micrometeoroid impact data and was used to evaluate the Manned Space Flight Network tracking stations and Apollo Orbit Determination Program.
The spacecraft was placed in a cislunar trajectory and on 5 August 1967 was injected into an elliptical near polar lunar orbit 194.5 km x 6023 km with an inclination of 85 degrees and a period of 8 hours 30 minutes. On 7 August the perilune was lowered to 100 km and on 9 August the orbit was lowered to a 99 km x 1499 km, 3 hour 11 minute period. The photographic portion of the mission ended on 18 August.
The spacecraft was tracked until it impacted the lunar surface on command at approximately 3 degrees S latitude, 83 degrees W longitude (selenographic coordinates) on January 31, 1968.
Read more:
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1967-075A
