NASA launched five nearly identical, van-size Lunar Orbiter satellites in 1966 and 1967 to map the Moon and identify safe Apollo landing sites.
Notes on verification
Core facts (five Lunar Orbiter missions, 1966-1967, purpose of mapping Moon for Apollo site selection) confirmed by NASA, Smithsonian, and Wikipedia. 'Van-size' descriptor is a reasonable approximation of spacecraft dimensions though not independently verified as a direct quote. [cascade flags: wikipedia_dropped_other_sources_exist | tier=silver indep_score=0.735 clusters=2 claim_tier=everyday]
Sources
- Moon photos from the 1960s were developed in space—here's how (seed:science_and_space)
- https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/lunar-orbiter-engineering-mock/nasm_A19700318000 (corroboration)
- https://www.nasa.gov/lunar-orbiters/ (corroboration)