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Lunar Orbiter 3
	Lunar Orbiter 3 image of the far side of the Moon, enhanced by LOIRP
Mission type	Lunar orbiter
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1967-008A
SATCAT no.	2666
Website	science.nasa.gov
Mission duration	8 months, 4 days
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	Langley Research Center
Launch mass	385.6 kg (850 lb)
Dimensions	3.72 × 1.65 × 1.5 m (12.2 × 5.4 × 4.9 ft)
Power	375 watts
Start of mission
Launch date	February 5, 1967, 01:17:01 UTC
Rocket	Atlas SLV-3 Agena-D
Launch site	Cape Canaveral LC-13
End of mission
Disposal	Deorbited
Decay date	October 9, 1967, 10:27:11 UTC
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Selenocentric
Semi-major axis	2,694 km (1,674 mi)
Eccentricity	0.33
Periselene altitude	1,791 km (1,113 mi)
Aposelene altitude	3,598 km (2,236 mi)
Inclination	20.9 degrees
Period	208.1 minutes
Epoch	February 7, 1967, 19:00:00 UTC
Lunar orbiter
Orbital insertion	February 8, 1967, 21:54 UTC
Impact site	14°18′N 97°42′W / 14.3°N 97.7°W
Orbits	1,702
Transponders
Frequency	2295 MHz
-
Instruments
-	Cesium Iodide Dosimeters
-	Lunar Photographic Studies
-	Meteoroid Detectors
-	Selenodesy
	Lunar Orbiter program ← Lunar Orbiter 2 Lunar Orbiter 4 →

The Lunar Orbiter 3 was a spacecraft launched by NASA in 1967 as part of the Lunar Orbiter Program.^[7] It was designed primarily to photograph areas of the lunar surface for confirmation of safe landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo missions. It was also equipped to collect selenodetic, radiation intensity, and micrometeoroid impact data.

Mission summary

The spacecraft was placed in a cislunar trajectory and injected into an elliptical near-equatorial lunar orbit on February 8 at 21:54 UT. The orbit was 210.2 by 1,801.9 kilometres (130.6 mi × 1,119.6 mi) with an inclination of 20.9 degrees and a period of 3 hours 25 minutes. After four days (25 orbits) of tracking the orbit was changed to 55 by 1,847 kilometres (34 mi × 1,148 mi). The spacecraft acquired photographic data from February 15 to 23, 1967, and readout occurred through March 2, 1967. The film advance mechanism showed erratic behavior during this period resulting in a decision to begin readout of the frames earlier than planned. The frames were read out successfully until March 4 when the film advance motor burned out, leaving about 25% of the frames on the takeup reel, unable to be read.^[8]

A total of 149 medium resolution and 477 high resolution frames were returned.^[9] The frames were of excellent quality with resolution down to 1 metre (3 ft 3 in). Included was a frame of the Surveyor 1 landing site, permitting identification of the location of the spacecraft on the surface. The future landing site of Apollo 14 including Cone crater, was photographed by the orbiter.^[10] Accurate data were acquired from all other experiments throughout the mission.^[11] The spacecraft was used for tracking purposes until it struck the lunar surface on command at 14.3 degrees N latitude, 97.7 degrees W longitude (selenographic coordinates) on October 9, 1967.

Instruments
Lunar Photographic Studies	Evaluation of Apollo and Surveyor landing sites
Meteoroid Detectors	Detection of micrometeoroids in the lunar environment
Caesium Iodide Dosimeters	Radiation environment en route to and near the Moon
Selenodesy	Gravitational field and physical properties of the Moon