1967-08-01 USA Lunar Orbiter 5

The final in the Lunar Orbiter series, Lunar Orbiter 5, was launched on 1 August 1967, and after nearly 90 hours and travelled 255,000 miles (410,000 km) of flight, it entered into orbit. Its missions were to continue detailed photography of more than 40 preselected sites on the near side of the moon and to cover the unphotographed regions along the western equator on the far side. Upon completion of the Lunar Orbiter 5 mission, over 99% of the moon's surface had been mapped (with data from all previous missions combined). The mission ended on January 31, 1968.

1967-05-04 USA Lunar Orbiter 4

Lunar Orbiter 4, unlike its predecessors, went into near polar orbit and sent back its first picture of the south polar region of the moon on 11 May 1967. It took images from orbit for eight months before it was crashed to the lunar surface.

1967-02-05 USA Lunar Orbiter 3

Lunar Orbiter 3, boosted by its Atlas Agena D carrier was launched on February 5, 1967, and entered moon orbit on the 8th. Its mission was to photograph the prime site in eastern Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility), one of the potential landing site for Apollo.

"SpaceCraft" Lunar Orbiter 3 launch cover, postmarked PAFB, February 5, 1967.

"Orbit Covers" Lunar Orbiter 3 launch cover, postmarked Cape Canaveral, February 5, 1967.

"Orbit Covers" Lunar Orbiter 3 cover postmarked Cape Canaveral, February 8, 1967, when it entered the moon orbit.

Photo: "Sea of Tranquility" on the moon taken by Lunar Orbiter 3.

The orbit of Lunar Orbiter 3 was altered several times during the mission to give controllers on Earth more experience with communications during lunar orbit. Lunar Orbiter 3 drew great attention when it photographed the Surveyor 1 spacecraft that landed on the moon in early June 1966. The mission ended on 9 October 1967 when it was deliberately crashed the spacecraft into the Moon.

Photo: "Moon Landing Sites Selected for America Astronauts. This photo, released by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, lists eight prime lunar landing sites for America astronauts. NASA said it had chosen the prime sites after reviewing photos by Orbiter II, shown by a black square, and Orbiter III, shown by a black circle. AP Wirephoto. April 10, 1967."

1966-11-07 USA Lunar Orbiter 2

On 6 November 1966, Lunar Orbiter 2 headed for the moon and in lunar orbit on 10 November. Excellent pictures of potential Apollo landing sites in particular were returned.

Lunar Orbiter 2 took over 800 pictures during its mission, including an oblique view of the crater Copernicus that was voted one of the best images of the century by the press. It was deliberately sent crashing into the lunar surface on 11 October 1967, bringing to an end the successful mission.

1966-08-10 USA Lunar Orbiter 1

"SpaceCraft" Lunar Orbiter 1 launch cover, postmarked PAFB, August 10, 1966.

Photo: "APOLLO ALLEY - that's what the astronauts call the narrow belt along the Moon's midsection. It stretches from 43 degrees east to 56 degrees west longitude and includes proposed landing sites for both manned (Apollo) and unmanned (Surveyor) spacecraft. Unmanned Lunar Orbiters circling above the Moon will photograph these 10 sites and gather other data about them. Then soft-landing Surveyors will test the strength and quality of typical sites. This information will enable the National Aeronautics and Space Administration planners to pick the spot where the first Americans will land on the Moon. World Book Encyclopedia Science Service, Inc. 1966"

Lunar Orbiter 1 launch cover postmarked Kennedy Space Center, August 10, 1966.

After a 92 hour voyage, the first successful United States Lunar Orbiter entered into orbit around the moon on 14 August 1966.

Photo: The moon and earth in one shot taken by Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft.

Lunar Orbiter 1 cover postmarked August 14, 1966, when it entered the moon orbit.

On its 26th orbit of the moon, the first pictures were taken, developed, and stored. Electronic scanning and transmission to earth commenced on 18 August. Lunar Orbiter 1 sent back high-quality images (by television) of over two million square miles of lunar surface, including the first detailed images of potential Apollo landing sites.

Photo: Dark side of the moon taken by Lunar Orbiter 1.

After circling the Moon 527 times in 77 days, Lunar Orbiter 1 was deliberately crashed onto the moon's surface to prevent the possibility of its radio disturbing communications between earth and the Lunar Orbiter 2, whose launching was imminent.