Lunar 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.
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Lunar Orbiters and Flyby Probes
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1. Wikipedia: Luna 1
Wikimedia FoundationLuna 1 article, sentence naming 1959Quote, Luna 1 article, sentence naming 1959
Luna 1 was launched as part of the Soviet Luna programme in 1959.
Wikipedia: Exploration of the Moon
Luna 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 Source Wikipedia - Ranger 7
Has 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 Source Luna 1 - Wikipedia
Has Member: Luna 1, Luna 1, also known as Mechta (Russian: ????? [m??t???ta], 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 Source LCROSS - Wikipedia
Has 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 Source Luna 3 - Wikipedia
Has Member: Luna 3, Luna 3, or E-2A No.1 (Russian: ???? 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 Source Zond 5 - Wikipedia
Has 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 Source Lunar Prospector - Wikipedia
Has 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 Source Clementine (spacecraft) - Wikipedia
Has 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 Source Luna 10 - Wikipedia
Has 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 Source SMART-1 - Wikipedia
Has 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 Source Wikipedia: Danuri
Has 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 Source Wikipedia: CAPSTONE
Has 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 Source Wikipedia: LADEE
Has 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 Source Wikipedia: SELENE
Has Member: SELENE, SELENE (; Selenological and Engineering Explorer), better known in Japan by its nickname Kaguya (???), was the second Japanese lunar orbiter spacecraft following the Hiten probe. Produced by theView the Source Wikipedia: Ranger 4
Has 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 Source Wikipedia: Ranger 8
Has 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 Source Wikipedia: Ranger 3
Has 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 Source Ranger 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 Source Ranger 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 Source Ranger 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 Source Ranger 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 Source Ranger 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 Source Reader Challenges (0)
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