The 1966 Lunar Orbiter 2 robotic spacecraft mission, 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.
Mission type | Lunar orbiter |
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Operator | NASA |
COSPAR ID | 1966-100A |
SATCAT no. | 2534 |
Mission duration | 339 days |
Spacecraft properties | |
Manufacturer | Langley Research Center |
Launch mass | 385.6 kilograms (850 lb) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | November 6, 1966, 23:21:00 (1966-11-06UTC23:21Z) UTC |
Rocket | Atlas SLV-3 Agena-D |
Launch site | Cape Canaveral LC-13 |
End of mission | |
Decay date | October 11, 1967 (1967-10-12) |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Selenocentric |
Semi-major axis | 2,694 kilometers (1,674 mi) |
Eccentricity | 0.35 |
Periselene altitude | 1,790 kilometers (1,110 mi) |
Aposelene altitude | 3,598 kilometers (2,236 mi) |
Inclination | 11.9 degrees |
Period | 208.07 minutes |
Epoch | November 9, 1966, 19:00:00 UTC[1] |
Lunar orbiter | |
Orbital insertion | November 10, 1966 |
Impact site | 3.0°N 119.1°E / 3.0; 119.1 |
Orbits | 2,346 |
Lunar Orbiter program |
The spacecraft was placed in a cislunar trajectory and injected into an elliptical near-equatorial lunar orbit for data acquisition after 92.6 hours' flight time. The initial orbit was 196 by 1,850 kilometres (122 mi × 1,150 mi) at an inclination of 11.8 degrees. The perilune was lowered to 49.7 kilometres (30.9 mi) 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 1 metre (3 ft 3 in). 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.[2] 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) on October 11, 1967.
In 2011, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter 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.[3]
Lunar Photographic Studies | Evaluation of Apollo and Surveyor landing sites |
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Meteoroid Detectors | Detection of micrometeoroids in the lunar environment |
Caesium Iodide Dosimeters | Radiation environment en route to and near the Moon |
Selenodesy | Gravitational field and physical properties of the Moon |
Lunar Orbiter program | ||
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← 1965 · Orbital launches in 1966 · 1967 → | |
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Kosmos 104 | OPS 2394 | OPS 7253 · OPS 3179 | Kosmos 105 | Kosmos 106 | OPS 1593 | Luna 9 | OPS 7291 | ESSA-1 | OPS 1439 | Kosmos 107 | Kosmos 108 | OPS 1184 · OPS 3011 · OPS 3031 | Dipason | Kosmos 109 | DS-K-40 No.2 | Kosmos 110 | ESSA-2 | Kosmos 111 | OPS 3488 | GATV-5003 | Gemini VIII | Kosmos 112 | OPS 0879 · OPS 0974 | Kosmos 113 | N-4 No.3 | OPS 1117 | Molniya-1 No.5 | OV1-4 · OV1-5 | OPS 0340 | Luna 10 | Kosmos 114 | OPS 1612 | Surveyor SD-3 | OAO-1 | OPS 0910 | Kosmos 115 | OV3-1 | Molniya 1-03 | Kosmos 116 | OPS 1508 | Kosmos 117 | Kosmos 118 | OPS 1950 · OPS 6785 | Nimbus 2 | Zenit-4 | GATV-5004 | OPS 0082 | OPS 1788 | Kosmos 119 | Explorer 32 | Surveyor 1 | ATDA | Gemini IX-A | OPS 1577 · OPS 1856 | OGO-3 | Kosmos 120 | OV3-4 | FTV-1351 · Secor 6 · ERS-16 | OPS 9311 · OPS 9312 · OPS 9313 · OPS 9314 · OPS 9315 · OPS 9316 · OPS 9317 · GGTS | Kosmos 121 | OPS 1599 | PAGEOS | Kosmos 122 | Explorer 33 | AS-203 | Proton 3 | Kosmos 123 | OPS 1850 | OV1-7 · OV1-8 | Kosmos 124 | GATV-5005 | Gemini X | Kosmos 125 | Kosmos 126 | OPS 3014 | OV3-3 | Kosmos 127 | OPS 1545 | Lunar Orbiter 1 | OPS 1832 · OPS 6810 | Pioneer 7 | OPS 2366 | FTV-1352 · Secor 7 · ERS-15 | Luna 11 | IDSCP 1 · IDSCP 2 · IDSCP 3 · IDSCP 4 · IDSCP 5 · IDSCP 6 · IDSCP 7 · GGTS | Kosmos 128 | GATV-5006 | Gemini XI | OPS 6026 | OPS 1686 · OPS 6874 | Zenit-2 No.40 | OPS 6026 | OPS 1686 · OPS 6874 | OGCh No.05L | Surveyor 2 | OPS 1703 | Ōsumi 1 | OPS 4096 | ESSA-3 | FTV-1583 · Secor 8 | OPS 2055 · OPS 5345 | Kosmos 129 | Molniya 1-04 | Kosmos 130 | Luna 12 | Surveyor SM-3 | Intelsat II F-1 | OV3-2 | OGCh No.06L | OPS 2070 · OPS 5424 | OPS 0855 · OV4-1R · OV4-1T · OV1-6 | Lunar Orbiter 2 | OPS 1866 | GATV-5001A | Gemini XII | Kosmos 131 | Strela-2 No.1 | Kosmos 132 | Kosmos 133 | Kosmos 134 | OPS 1890 | ATS-1 | OV1-9 · OV1-10 | Kosmos 135 | Soyuz 7K-OK No.1 | OPS 8968 | Biosatellite 1 | Kosmos 136 | Ōsumi 2 | Kosmos 137 | Luna 13 | OPS 1584 | |
Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in underline. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in brackets. |
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