A series of nine uncrewed NASA missions flown between 1961 and 1965 whose objective was to obtain the first close-up images of the lunar surface before impact. The first six missions failed; Ranger 7 succeeded in 1964, photographing its way down to a lunar plain later named Mare Cognitum and sending back more than 4,300 pictures from six cameras. Rangers 8 and 9 repeated the success. The images revealed that impact craters, not the smooth plains earlier telescopes suggested, dominate the Moon's surface at close range, informing the later Surveyor and Apollo landing-site studies.
Facts
Mission TypeUncrewed lunar reconnaissance (impactor) 1 OutcomeNine missions flown, five failures and four successes (Rangers 7, 8 and 9). The new images revealed that impact craters, even in seemingly smooth plains, dominate the Moon's surface, reshaping how landing sites for later missions were chosen. 1 Mission Type
Mission Type (category) Connections
Operated By
Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Sources
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationRanger program (Wikipedia) - lead summary
The Ranger program was a series of uncrewed space missions by the United States in the 1960s whose objective was to obtain the first close-up images of the surface of the Moon.
Ranger program (Wikipedia) - first launch
1961-1965
Ranger program (Wikipedia) - mission type
obtain the first close-up images of the surface of the Moon
Ranger program (Wikipedia) - outcome
The new images revealed that craters caused by impact were the dominant features of the Moon's surface, even in the seemingly smooth and empty plains.
Operated By: NASA, Ranger program (Wikipedia) - operator
The Ranger program was a series of uncrewed space missions by the United States in the 1960s
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