 It was equipped to take images of the lunar surface with a television-like system, 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.The probe was originally intended for launch on Atlas 9C in October, but the launch vehicle was destroyed in a static firing accident on 24 September, so it was decided to use the Atlas D (an operational version of the Atlas ICBM) rather than the Atlas C, which was still a test model.