Copernicus crater on the Moon, Lunar Orbiter 2, 1966. There were five Lunar Orbiter spacecraft, launched by NASA from August 1966 to August 1967. They were designed to enter orbit around the Moon and take and transmit back to Earth photographs of the lunar surface. Lunar Orbiter 2 photographed the Moon from 18-25 November 1966. This image, showing the crater Copernicus at an oblique angle, was taken on 24 November 1966.