Operation AXIOM: Destination Moon—The 60th Anniversary of Lunar Orbiter 1
10 August 1966: The
Lunar Orbiter 1 probe lifted off from Florida's Cape Kennedy Air Force Station aboard an Atlas-Agena rocket;
Lunar Orbiter 1 transmitted 42 high-resolution photos & 187 medium-resolution photos from 18-29 August, using cameras Kodak originally developed for the SAMOS spy satellites; the orbiter was crashed into the Far Side of the Moon during its 577th orbit, on 29 October.
Commentary: Lunar Orbiter 1
took the first photo of the Earth from the Moon, though I dare say that in a little over two years it would be surpassed by the Earthrise
photo taken during Apollo 8. Such was the rapid rate of progress in those heady days: Lunar Orbiter 1
was America's first spacecraft to orbit the Moon, yet in less than three years three Apollo Command & Service Modules orbited the Moon (Apollo 8, Apollo 10, & Apollo 11), two Lunar Modules orbited the Moon (Apollo 10 & Apollo 11), & the first Lunar Module landed on the Moon (Apollo 11). What a time to be alive!
Bonus! Destination Moon Song o' the Day: Lunar Orbiter 1
Paul Simon, "Kodachrome" from the
Negotiations and Love Songs 1971-1986 compilation (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)
Ex Luna, scientia.
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