SAFE LANDING SITES

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31144, 22 August 1966, Page 13

SAFE LANDING SITES

t.V.Z.PA. Reuter— Copyright)

CAPE KENNEDY, August 21.

Lunar Orbiter I plunges into a low orbit around the moon today to find safe landing sites for future American astronauts.

Officials at the jet propulsion laboratory in Pasadena, California, decided to go ahead with the manoeuvre in spite of trouble with the windmill-shaped spacecraft’s close-up camera. Since the 8501 b probe began radioing pictures back to earth on Thursday its close-up pictures have been blurred and flat. But. other photographs taken with a wideangle lens have been sharp and clear.

Lunar Orbiter’s braking rocket will be fired by a ground signal to bring the low point of its orbit down from 129 miles to 34 miles. Scientists said that by the time it takes its first loworbit pictures in about five days the moon’s gravity will have pulled it to a low point of about 28 miles from the surface. They added that there seemed to be no danger of Lunar Orbiter being dragged down on to the moon before l its mission to photograph nine

specific areas along the lunar equator was completed. According to spacecraft manager, Mr Israel Taback, the camera fault is probably due to the film moving too fast when the shutter is open. He said the film movement was supposed to compensate for the spacecraft’s speed during picture taking. When Lunar Orbiter moved into closer orbit the speed compensation system would have to work five times faster and this might automatically solve the fault