News World Today in History: First US Orbiter launched to orbit Moon

Today in History: First US Orbiter launched to orbit Moon

New Delhi: The first American spacecraft to orbit the Moon was launched on 10th of August 1966.The spacecraft was named as  Lunar Orbiter 1 robotic. It was part of the Lunar Orbiter program. The Lunar



All Lunar Orbiter craft were launched by an Atlas-Agena D launch vehicle.






The Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft was placed in an Earth parking orbit on August 10, 1966 at 19:31 (UTC).

The Trans lunar injection burn occurred at 20:04 (UTC). The spacecraft experienced a temporary failure of the Canopus star tracker (probably due to stray sunlight) and overheating during its cruise to the Moon.

The star tracker problem was resolved by navigating using the Moon as a reference and the overheating was abated by orienting the spacecraft 36 degrees off-Sun to lower the temperature.

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