Lunar Orbiter Program

23 Aug
2026
August 23, 2026

First Pictures: Earthrise from NASA’s Lunar Orbiter 1 – August 23, 1966

For old time space enthusiasts like myself, it seems that no lunar mission is complete without an obligatory Earthrise (or Earthset) image. The spectacle of our […]
Lunar & Planetary Missions, Spaceflight
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1 Aug
2017
August 1, 2017

Lunar Orbiter 5: Filling the Gaps in the Maps

A half of a century after the fact, it is difficult to imagine the excitement during 1967 as NASA continued to work through its backlog of […]
Lunar & Planetary Missions, Spaceflight, Unmanned Spaceflight
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4 May
2017
May 4, 2017

Mapping the Moon: The Mission of Lunar Orbiter 4

As 1967 began, NASA had ambitious plans for the year in their push to get Apollo to the Moon. But while the tragic loss of the […]
Lunar & Planetary Missions, Spaceflight, Unmanned Spaceflight
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5 Feb
2017
February 5, 2017

Lunar Orbiter 3: Preparing for Apollo

As work on the Apollo program continued to accelerate as 1967 began, the process of identifying suitable lunar landing sites was also well underway thanks to […]
Lunar & Planetary Missions, Spaceflight
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23 Nov
2016
November 23, 2016

Lunar Orbiter 2 and the “Picture of the Century”

At times it seems that we have overused various superlative labels to the point where they have lost their meaning. While this trend may seem to […]
Lunar & Planetary Missions, Spaceflight
6 Comments
14 Aug
2016
August 14, 2016

Lunar Orbiter 1: America’s First Lunar Satellite

With the historic landing of Apollo 11 on the Moon, the summer of 1969 was quite memorable for me as a budding seven-year-old space enthusiast. And […]
Lunar & Planetary Missions, Spaceflight
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