NASA launched five nearly identical, van-size Lunar Orbiter satellites in 1966 and 1967 to map the Moon and identify safe Apollo landing sites.
Sources
- Moon photos from the 1960s were developed in space—here's how (nationalgeographic.com)
- https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/lunar-orbiter-engineering-mock/nasm_A19700318000 (airandspace.si.edu)
- https://www.nasa.gov/lunar-orbiters/ (nasa.gov)
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