Pioneer P-30

Pioneer P-30
Pioneer P-30 lunar probe
Mission typeLunar orbiter
OperatorNASA
Mission durationFailure to launch
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerTRW Space Technology Laboratories
Launch mass175.5 kg (387 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date25 September 1960, 15:13:00 (1960-09-25UTC15:13Z) UTC
RocketAtlas D-Able
Launch siteCape Canaveral, LC-12
Orbital parameters
Apogee altitude1,290 kilometres (800 mi)

Pioneer P-30 (also known as Able 5A,[1] Atlas-Able 5A, or Pioneer Y) was intended to be a lunar orbiter probe, but the mission failed shortly after launch on September 25, 1960. The objectives were to place a highly instrumented probe in lunar orbit, to investigate the environment between the Earth and Moon, and to develop technology for controlling and maneuvering spacecraft from Earth. It was equipped to estimate the Moon's mass and topography of the poles, record the distribution and velocity of micrometeorites, and study radiation, magnetic fields, and low frequency electromagnetic waves in space. A mid-course propulsion system and injection rocket would have been the first United States self-contained propulsion system capable of operation many months after launch at great distances from Earth and the first U.S. tests of maneuvering a satellite in space.

  1. ^ "NASA Science: Missions – Able 5A". Retrieved 20 Feb 2021.