Lunar Orbiter 5
| Operator | NASA |
|---|---|
| Major contractors | Langley Research Center |
| Mission type | Orbiter |
| Satellite of | Moon |
| Orbits | 1,380 |
| Launch date | August 1, 1967 at 22:32:00 UTC |
| Launch vehicle | Atlas-Agena D |
| Mission duration | 183 days |
| Orbital decay | Impacted lunar surface on January 31, 1968, at 2°47′S 83°06′W / 2.79°S 83.1°W |
| COSPAR ID | 1967-075A |
| Mass | 385.6 kg (850 lb) |
| Orbital elements | |
| Semimajor axis | 4,846.8 km (3,011.7 mi) |
| Eccentricity | .26 |
| Inclination | 85° |
| Apoapsis | 6,023 km (3,743 mi) |
| Periapsis | 194.5 km (120.9 mi) |
| Orbital period | 510.08 minutes |
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 August 5, 1967 was injected into an elliptical near polar lunar orbit 194.5 by 6,023 kilometres (120.9 × 3,743 mi) with an inclination of 85 degrees and a period of 8 hours 30 minutes. On August 7 the perilune was lowered to 100 kilometres (62 mi), and on August 9 the orbit was lowered to a 99-by-1,499-kilometre (62 × 931 mi), 3 hour 11 minute period.
The spacecraft acquired photographic data from August 6 to 18, 1967, and readout occurred until August 27, 1967. A total of 633 high resolution and 211 medium resolution frames at resolution down to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) were acquired, bringing the cumulative photographic coverage by the five Lunar Orbiter craft to 99% of the Moon's surface. Accurate data were acquired from all other experiments throughout the mission. The spacecraft was tracked until it struck the lunar surface on command at 2.79 degrees S latitude, 83 degrees W longitude (selenographic coordinates) on January 31, 1968.
| Lunar Photographic Studies : | Evaluation of Apollo and Surveyor landing sites |
| 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 |
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