Saturday, July 28, 2018

Ranger 7 launched 1964



Ranger 7, launched July 28, 1964 to the moon, was the first completely successful flight of NASA's Ranger program.  It sent back close-up images of the lunar surface up to its impact.  Ranger 6, launched earlier in 1964 was considered a complete failure, although NASA tried to put a positive spin on it.

After an initial launch was aborted on July 27, it launched without issue the following day.  Ranger 7 reached the moon July 31 and transmitted over 4300 pictures during iits last 17 minutes of flight.  It impacted the surface between Mare Nubium and Mare Cognitum


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