Lunar Orbiter 4
Lunar Orbiter 4 was a robotic U.S. spacecraft, part of the Lunar Orbiter Program, designed to orbit the Moon, after the three previous orbiters had completed the required needs for Apollo mapping and site selection. It was given a more general objective, to "perform a broad systematic photographic survey of lunar surface features in order to increase the scientific knowledge of their nature, origin, and processes, and to serve as a basis for selecting sites for more detailed scientific study by subsequent orbital and landing missions". It was also equipped to collect selenodetic, radiation intensity, and micrometeoroid impact data.
Image taken by Lunar Orbiter 4, showing the Moon with a crescent Earth in the background. Enhanced by LOIRP. | |
| Mission type | Lunar orbiter |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 1967-041A |
| SATCAT no. | 2772 |
| Mission duration | 180 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Langley Research Center |
| Launch mass | 385.6 kilograms (850 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | May 4, 1967, 22:25:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Atlas SLV-3 Agena-D |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral LC-13 |
| End of mission | |
| Last contact | July 17, 1967 |
| Decay date | October 6, 1967 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Selenocentric |
| Semi-major axis | 6,152.5 kilometers (3,823.0 mi) |
| Eccentricity | 0.28 |
| Periselene altitude | 4,449 kilometers (2,764 mi) |
| Aposelene altitude | 7,856 kilometers (4,881 mi) |
| Inclination | 85.5 degrees |
| Period | 721 minutes |
| Epoch | March 7, 1967, 20:00:00 UTC |
| Lunar orbiter | |
| Orbital insertion | May 8, 1967, 21:54 UTC |
| Orbits | 360 |
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