1962 robotic lunar exploration mission by NASA; malfunctioned
For the fictional spacecraft, see Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV series). For the National Park Service vessel, see Ranger III.
Ranger 3
Mission type
Lunar impactor
Operator
NASA
Harvard designation
1962 Alpha 1
COSPAR ID
1962-001A
SATCAT no.
221
Mission duration
Launch to last scientific data transmitted 1.405 days; launch day to official mission end day 5 days
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Launch mass
330 kg [1]
Power
150 W
Start of mission
Launch date
January 26, 1962, 20:30:00 (1962-01-26UTC20:30Z) UTC [1]
Rocket
Atlas LV-3B Agena-B
Launch site
Cape Canaveral LC-12
End of mission
Last contact
Last scientific data transmitted between 12:52 and 1:33 a.m. EST, January 28, 1962[2]
Orbital parameters
Reference system
Heliocentric
Eccentricity
0.083
Perihelion altitude
0.9839 astronomical units (147,190,000 km)
Aphelion altitude
1.163 astronomical units (174,000,000 km)
Inclination
0.398°
Period
406.4 days
Lunar flyby (failed impact)
Closest approach
January 28, 1962
Distance
36,874 kilometers (22,912 mi)
Instruments
Television camera[3]
Gamma ray spectrometer
Radar altimeter
Seismometer
Ranger
← Ranger 2
Ranger 4 →
Ranger 3 was a space exploration mission conducted by NASA to study the Moon. The Ranger 3 robotic spacecraft was launched January 26, 1962 as part of the Ranger program. Due to a series of malfunctions, the spacecraft missed the Moon by 22,000 mi (35,000 km) and entered a heliocentric orbit.[4][5]
The Ranger 3 space probe was designed to transmit pictures of the lunar surface during a period of 10 minutes of flight prior to impacting on the Moon, to rough-land a seismometer capsule on the Moon, to collect gamma-ray data in flight, to study radar reflectivity of the lunar surface, and to continue testing of the Ranger program for development of lunar and interplanetary spacecraft.
^ ab"Ranger 3". NASA's Solar System Exploration website. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
^E. Clark, Ranger 3 flight stirs reliability question, Aviation Week and Space Technology, February 5, 1962, p. 30-32
^NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center. "Experiments on Ranger 3". NSSDC Master Catalog. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
^"National Space Science Data Center - Ranger 3". National Air and Space Administration. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
^"In Depth | Ranger 3". NASA Solar System Exploration. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
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