“Lunar Orbiter”的概念、定义、翻译、参考文献-科学参考

Lunar Orbiter

Astronomy

A series of five NASA space probes that photographed the Moon from orbit. Their main targets were potential landing sites for the Apollo missions. The first three of the series orbited around the Moon’s equator; the last two were put into polar orbit from which they photographed the entire lunar surface. Tracking the Lunar Orbiters revealed the existence of mascons, areas of denser rock within the Moon.

Lunar Orbiter Probes

Probe	Launch date	Results
Lunar Orbiter 1	1966 August 10	Entered lunar orbit August 14
Lunar Orbiter 2	1966 November 6	Entered lunar orbit November 10
Lunar Orbiter 3	1967 February 5	Entered lunar orbit February 8
Lunar Orbiter 4	1967 May 4	Entered lunar orbit May 8
Lunar Orbiter 5	1967 August 1	Entered lunar orbit August 5

Space Exploration

Any of a series of five US photographic reconnaissance satellites put into orbit around the Moon 1966–7 to map landing sites for the Apollo programme. A total of 1950 high-resolution images covering more than 99% of the lunar surface were transmitted back to Earth, some showing features as small as a metre in size. Precise tracking of the orbital motions of the satellites allowed scientists to map the gravitational field of the Moon.

Geology and Earth Sciences

A series of NASA lunar mapping missions that ran from 1966–1967.
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/lunarorb.html A NASA mission to map the Moon prior to the Apollo manned landing in 1969.