After completing its primary photographic mission, NASA deliberately commanded Lunar Orbiter III to impact the Moon on October 9, 1967. Launched that February, the spacecraft had returned hundreds of detailed images of the lunar surface, including close views of candidate landing areas for the Surveyor and Apollo programs. Although a transmission problem prevented some photographs from being relayed to Earth, the mission still achieved its main objectives.
Lunar Orbiter III was NASA’s final lunar-orbiter mission devoted specifically to confirming prospective Apollo landing sites. It re-photographed 12 locations identified by the first two Lunar Orbiters, supplying vertical, oblique, and stereo views that helped mission planners assess the terrain. Together, data from the first three Lunar Orbiters enabled NASA to select eight preliminary Apollo landing sites by April 1967, including the Sea of Tranquility site later chosen for Apollo 11.
After the imaging campaign, NASA continued using the spacecraft for tracking. When its maneuvering capability neared its limit, controllers sent commands that removed it from orbit and directed it into the lunar surface, rather than leaving it as a potential navigation hazard for later Apollo operations. The impact marked the end of a pivotal mission: Lunar Orbiter III helped transform the Moon from a distant, poorly mapped world into a place where NASA could plan human landings with far greater confidence.
Images via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
