Lunar Orbiter 1 due to stray sunlight) and overheating during its cruise to the Moon. The star tracker problem was resolved by navigating using the Moon as a reference, and the overheating was abated by orienting the spacecraft 36 degrees off-Sun to lower the temperature. Lunar Orbiter 1 was injected into an elliptical near-equatorial lunar orbit 92.1 hours after launch. The initial orbit was and had a period of 3 hours 37 minutes and an inclination of 12.2 degrees. On August 21, perilune was dropped to and on August 25 to . The spacecraft acquired photographic data from August 18 to 29, 1966,
March 1997 lunar eclipse the third of four lunar year eclipses at the descending node of the moon's orbit. The lunar year series repeats after 12 lunations or 354 days (Shifting back about 10 days in sequential years). Because of the date shift, the Earth's shadow will be about 11 degrees west in sequential events. March 1997 lunar eclipse A partial lunar eclipse took place on March 24, 1997, the first of two lunar eclipses in 1997. This partial lunar eclipse was nearly total; however, it occurred 3 days after the lunar apogee, so the umbral shadow is smaller. This is the 29th member