The Lunar Orbiter program was a series of five unmanned lunar orbiter missions launched by the United States from 1966 through 1967. Intended to help select Apollo landing sites by mapping the Moon's surface, they provided the first photographs from lunar orbit.
All five missions were successful, and 99% of the Moon was mapped
from photographs taken with a resolution of 60 meters or better. The
first three missions were dedicated to imaging 20 potential manned lunar
landing sites, selected based on Earth-based observations. These were
flown at low inclination orbits. The fourth and fifth missions were
devoted to broader scientific objectives and were flown in high-altitude
polar orbits. Lunar Orbiter 4 photographed the entire nearside and 9%
of the far side, and Lunar Orbiter 5 completed the far side coverage and
acquired medium (20 m) and high (2 m) resolution images of 36
pre-selected areas. All Lunar Orbiter craft were launched by an Atlas-Agena D launch vehicle.
The Lunar Orbiters had an ingenious imaging system, which consisted of a dual-lens camera,
a film processing unit, a readout scanner, and a film handling
apparatus. Both lenses, a 610 mm narrow angle high resolution (HR) lens
and an 80 mm wide angle medium resolution (MR) lens, placed their frame
exposures on a single roll of 70 mm film.
The axes of the two cameras were coincident so the area imaged in the
HR frames were centered within the MR frame areas. The film was moved
during exposure to compensate for the spacecraft velocity, which was
estimated by an electro-optical sensor. The film was then processed,
scanned, and the images transmitted back to Earth.
During the Lunar Orbiter missions, the first pictures of Earth as a
whole were taken, beginning with Earth-rise over the lunar surface by
Lunar Orbiter 1 in August, 1966. The first full picture of the whole
Earth was taken by Lunar Orbiter 5 in August, 1967. The second photo of
the whole Earth was taken by Lunar Orbiter V on November 10, 1967. This
photo was published by Stewart Brand in the first Whole Earth Catalog in
the fall of 1968.