Goals: Lunar Orbiter 5 was to photograph potential Apollo and Surveyor landing sites and survey previously unphotographed parts of the Moon's far side. It was also to measure radiation intensity and the frequency of micrometeoroid impacts in the lunar environment, and provide detailed orbital data to enable mapping of the Moon's gravitational field.

Accomplishments: The spacecraft photographed 36 different areas on the near side (including 5 potential Apollo landing sites and several for Surveyor) and mapped most of the far side, bringing total coverage of the Lunar Orbiter program to 99 percent of the lunar surface. A special 10-day period of continuous tracking of Lunar Orbiter 5 permitted U.S. scientists to produce a detailed gravity map of the Moon's near side, revealing the locations of the Moon's mass concentrations.