Jan 14

Space Rocket History #144 – Lunar Orbiter 2 – 5 and Wresat

A total of five Lunar Orbiter missions were launched by the US in 1966 through 1967.  The purpose of the lunar orbiter series was to photograph the moon’s surface for selection and verification of safe landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo missions.

The Lunar Orbiter

The Lunar Orbiter

LO 2 Image of the Sea of Tranquility

LO 2 Image of the Sea of Tranquility

LO 3 Image of the Tsiolkovskiy Crater

LO 3 Image of the Tsiolkovskiy Crater

LO 4 image of the Davy Crater Chain

LO 4 image of the Davy Crater Chain

LO 5 Image of the Tycho impact crater

LO 5 Image of the Tycho impact crater

First Australian satellite called Wresat

First Australian satellite called Wresat

Wresat testing

Wresat assembly and testing

Wresat Launch

Wresat Launch

Aug 14

Space Rocket History #75 – Luna 10, Surveyor 1, and Lunar Orbiter 1 – Scouting the Moon

In the 1960s, during the cold war, the US and Soviet Union turned their attention to the moon. The question was, who could place a man on the moon and return him safely to the earth first? Obtaining the necessary data on the moon to risk sending a person there was crucial. The US and Soviet Union chose unmanned spacecraft to scout for this information…

Luna 10

Luna 10

Surveyor 1 Mockup

Surveyor 1 Mockup

S1 with Atlas-Centar

Surveyor 1 Launch

Suv Foot Pad on Moon

S 1 Foot Pad on Moon

Suv Shadow on Moon

S 1 Shadow on Moon

Lunar Orbiter 1

Lunar Orbiter 1

First View of Earth from Moon

First View of Earth from Moon