Home›Space Probe›Lunar Orbiters and Flyby ProbesGroupLunar Orbiters and Flyby ProbesLunar Orbiters and Flyby Probes gathers the space probes that studied the Moon from orbit or during a flyby rather than making a soft landing or roving its surface. The physical exploration of the Moon began when the Soviet Union's Luna 2 made a deliberate impact on the lunar surface on 14 September 1959, the first time a human-made object reached the Moon, following centuries of Earth-based telescopic observation that began when Galileo Galilei built his own telescope in 1609 and used it to observe the Moon's mountains and craters. Members of this group range from the early American Ranger series, built to transmit close-up images during a final approach before impact, through Soviet-era Luna orbiters, to modern national and commercial lunar orbiters and technology demonstrators such as South Korea's Danuri, NASA's LADEE, and the CAPSTONE cislunar navigation mission.FactsBrowse BySourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsComparisonField Origin EraWell-attested1959 1Browse ByAll Lunar Orbiters and Flyby ProbesLunar Orbiters and Flyby Probes22 entriesLunar Orbiters and Flyby ProbesFilter Results22 entriesSpacecraft TypeAllLunar Orbiters and Flyby Probes (22)OperatorAllAmes Research Center (1)European Space Agency (1)JAXA (1)Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2)Korea Aerospace Research Institute (1)NASA (13)Soviet space program (5)MissionAllCAPSTONE Mission (1)Clementine Mission (1)Danuri Mission (1)Discovery Program (1)LADEE Mission (1)LCROSS Mission (1)Luna Program (4)Ranger Program (9)SELENE Mission (1)SMART-1 Mission (1)Zond Program (1)Launch EraAll1959-01-02 (1)1959-09-12 (1)1959-10-04 (1)1961-08-23 (1)1961-11-18 (1)1962-01-26 (1)1962-04-23 (1)1962-10-18 (1)1964-01-30 (1)1964-07-28 (1)1965-02-17 (1)1965-03-21 (1)1966-03-31 (1)1968-09-14 (1)1994-01-25 (1)1998-01-07 (1)2003-09-27 (1)2007-09-14 (1)2009-06-18 (1)2013-09-07 (1)2022-06-28 (1)2022-08-04 (1)Mission OfAllCAPSTONE Mission (1)Clementine Mission (1)Danuri Mission (1)Discovery Program (1)LADEE Mission (1)LCROSS Mission (1)Luna Program (4)Ranger Program (9)SELENE Mission (1)SMART-1 Mission (1)Zond Program (1)StatusAllMission complete (3)ManufacturerAllJet Propulsion Laboratory (9)Korea Aerospace Research Institute (1)Lockheed Martin (1)NASA (1)Naval Research Laboratory (1)NEC Corporation (1)Northrop Grumman Corporation (1)NPO Lavochkin (1)S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (4)Swedish Space Corporation (1)Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems (1)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 22CAPSTONESpace Probe2 linksClementineSpace Probe3 linksDanuriSpace Probe3 linksLADEESpace Probe3 linksLCROSSSpace Probe4 linksLuna 1Space Probe3 linksLuna 10Space Probe3 linksLuna 2Space Probe3 linksLuna 3Space Probe3 linksLunar ProspectorSpace Probe3 linksRanger 1Space Probe3 linksRanger 2Space Probe3 linksRanger 3Space Probe3 linksRanger 4Space Probe3 linksRanger 5Space Probe4 linksRanger 6Space Probe4 linksRanger 7Space Probe3 linksRanger 8Space Probe3 linksRanger 9Space Probe3 linksSELENESpace Probe3 linksSMART-1Space Probe4 linksZond 5Space Probe3 linksSources1. Wikipedia: Luna 1tier 2Wikimedia FoundationLuna 1 article, sentence naming 1959Quote, Luna 1 article, sentence naming 1959Luna 1 was launched as part of the Soviet Luna programme in 1959.View the SourceWikipedia: Exploration of the MoonView the SourceLuna 2 (Wikipedia)Has Member: Luna 2, Luna 2 (Russian: ???? 2), originally named the Second Soviet Cosmic Rocket and nicknamed Lunik 2 in contemporaneous media, was the sixth of the Soviet Union's Luna programme spacecraft launched tView the SourceWikipedia - Ranger 7Has Member: Ranger 7, Ranger 7 was the first NASA space probe to successfully transmit close-up images of the lunar surface back to Earth. It was also the first completely successful flight of the Ranger program. LaunView the SourceLuna 1 - WikipediaHas Member: Luna 1, Luna 1, also known as Mechta (Russian: Мечта [mʲɪt͡ɕˈta], lit.: Dream), E-1 No.4 and First Lunar Rover, was the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of Earth's Moon, the first spacecraft to leaView the SourceLCROSS - WikipediaHas Member: LCROSS, The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) was a robotic spacecraft operated by NASA. The mission was conceived as a low-cost means of determining the nature of hydrogen detectedView the SourceLuna 3 - WikipediaHas Member: Luna 3, Luna 3, or E-2A No.1 (Russian: Луна 3), was a Soviet spacecraft launched in 1959 as part of the Luna programme. It was the first mission to photograph the far side of the Moon and the third SovieView the SourceZond 5 - WikipediaHas Member: Zond 5, Zond 5 (Russian: ???? 5, lit.?'Probe 5') was a spacecraft of the Soviet Zond program. In September 1968 Zond 5 travelled around the Moon in a circumlunar trajectory and became the first Moon missView the SourceLunar Prospector - WikipediaHas Member: Lunar Prospector, Lunar Prospector was a spacecraft that orbited the Moon for 19 months in 1998-99. From a low polar orbit, it mapped surface composition including lunar hydrogen deposits, measured magnetic and grView the SourceClementine (spacecraft) - WikipediaHas Member: Clementine, Clementine (officially called the Deep Space Program Science Experiment (DSPSE)) is a partially failed joint space project between the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (previously the StraView the SourceLuna 10 - WikipediaHas Member: Luna 10, Luna 10 (Russian: ????-10, lit.?'Moon-10') or Lunik 10 was a 1966 Soviet lunar robotic spacecraft mission in the Luna program. It was the first artificial satellite of the Moon, and any other bodView the SourceSMART-1 - WikipediaHas Member: SMART-1, SMART-1 was a European Space Agency satellite that orbited the Moon. It was launched on 27 September 2003 at 23:14 UTC from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. "SMART-1" stands forView the SourceWikipedia: DanuriHas Member: Danuri, The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), officially Danuri, is South Korea's first lunar mission. The orbiter, its science payload and ground control infrastructure are technology demonstratorsView the SourceWikipedia: CAPSTONEHas Member: CAPSTONE, CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) is a lunar orbiter that is testing and verifying the calculated orbital stability planned for theView the SourceWikipedia: LADEEHas Member: LADEE, The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE; ) was a NASA lunar exploration and technology demonstration mission. It was launched on a Minotaur V rocket from the Mid-Atlantic RegionView the SourceWikipedia: SELENEHas Member: SELENE, SELENE (; Selenological and Engineering Explorer), better known in Japan by its nickname Kaguya (かぐや), was the second Japanese lunar orbiter spacecraft following the Hiten probe. Produced by theView the SourceWikipedia: Ranger 4Has Member: Ranger 4, Ranger 4 was a spacecraft of the Ranger program, launched in 1962. It was designed to transmit pictures of the lunar surface to Earth stations during a period of 10 minutes of flight prior to craView the SourceWikipedia: Ranger 8Has Member: Ranger 8, Ranger 8 was a lunar probe in the Ranger program, a robotic spacecraft series launched by NASA in the early-to-mid-1960s to obtain the first close-up images of the Moon's surface. These picturesView the SourceWikipedia: Ranger 3Has Member: Ranger 3, Ranger 3 was a space exploration mission conducted by NASA to study the Moon. The Ranger 3 robotic spacecraft was launched January 26, 1962 as part of the Ranger program. Due to a series of malfuView the SourceRanger 9 (Wikipedia)Has Member: Ranger 9, Ranger 9 was a Lunar probe, launched in 1965 by NASA. It was designed to achieve a lunar impact trajectory and to transmit high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minuteView the SourceRanger 6 (Wikipedia)Has Member: Ranger 6, Ranger 6 was a lunar probe in the NASA Ranger program, a series of robotic spacecraft of the early and mid-1960s to obtain close-up images of the Moon's surface. It was launched on January 30, 19View the SourceRanger 5 (Wikipedia)Has Member: Ranger 5, Ranger 5 was a spacecraft of the Ranger program designed to transmit pictures of the lunar surface to Earth stations during a period of 10 minutes of flight prior to impacting on the Moon, to rouView the SourceRanger 1 (Wikipedia)Has Member: Ranger 1, Ranger 1 was a prototype spacecraft launched as part of the Ranger program of uncrewed space missions. Its primary mission was to test the performance of those functions and parts necessary for cView the SourceRanger 2 (Wikipedia)Has Member: Ranger 2, Ranger 2 was a flight test of the Ranger spacecraft system of the NASA Ranger program designed for future lunar and interplanetary missions. Ranger 2 was designed to test various systems for futuView the SourceComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? 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