Lunar Orbiter-2 ( Eng. Lunar Orbiter 2 ) - NASA's automatic unmanned spacecraft , developed as part of the Lunar Orbiter program. The mission’s main tasks included obtaining detailed photographs of the lunar surface to determine the safe landing sites for the Apollo and Surveyor spacecraft, as well as developing our knowledge of the Moon . In particular, the refinement of the parameters of the gravitational field of the Moon to clarify the flight path, the measurement of the power of the flow of micrometeorites and radiation doses in the lunar medium. All mission goals were met: a total of 211 photographs were taken from 40 positions in the lunar orbit. [2]
| Lunar Orbiter-2 | |
|---|---|
| Lunar Orbiter 2 B | |
| Customer |  NASA |
| Manufacturer | Langley Research Center |
| Tasks | artificial satellite |
| Satellite | Moon |
| Launch pad | Cape Canaveral , LC-13 [1] |
| Launch vehicle | Atlas-Agena D |
| Launch | November 6, 1966 23:21 UTC |
| Flight duration | 339 days |
| Descent from orbit | Faced the lunar surface on October 11, 1967 |
| NSSDC ID | 1966-100A |
| SCN | 02534 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 385.6 kg |
| Elements of the orbit | |
| Semimajor axis | 2694 km |
| Eccentricity | .35 |
| Mood | 11.9 ° |
| Apocenter | 1850 km |
| Pericenter | 52 km |
| Orbit repetition | 208.07 minutes |
Flight Timeline
Lunar Orbiter-2 reached the goal after 92.5 hours of flight. Its initial orbit was 196 × 1850 km with an inclination of 11.8 °. After five days of orbital flight, the pericenter was reduced to 50 km. On December 7, 1966, on the last day of reading the data, the amplifier was damaged, resulting in the loss of six photos. On December 8, the inclination of the apparatus was changed to a level of 17.5 ° in order to obtain new data on lunar gravity. During the study, three micrometeorite impacts were recorded. Subsequently, the device was used to track the trajectory until October 11, 1967 it was taken out of orbit. Lunar Orbiter-2 made a hard landing at 3.0 ° N, 119.1 ° E by selenographic coordinates .
Photo dated November 20, 1966, taken from a height of 47 km above the Sea of Tranquility .
Notes
- ↑ Cape Canaveral LC13 (inaccessible link) . Encyclopedia Astronautica. Date of treatment December 27, 2011. Archived on September 7, 2012.
- ↑ The Lunar Orbiter Program (inaccessible link) . Lunar and Planetary Institute. Date of treatment December 27, 2011. Archived on September 7, 2012.