American uncrewed lunar space missions in the 1960s
For the U.S. Army training course, see Ranger School.
Ranger
Block III Ranger spacecraft
Manufacturer
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Country of origin
United States
Operator
NASA
Specifications
Bus
Block I, Block II, Block III
Production
Status
Retired
Launched
9
Failed
5
Maiden launch
August 23, 1961
Last launch
March 21, 1965
Related spacecraft
Derivatives
Mariner
Configuration
Block II Ranger spacecraft
First image of the Moon returned by a Ranger mission (Ranger 7 in 1964)
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. The Ranger spacecraft were designed to take images of the lunar surface, transmitting those images to Earth until the spacecraft were destroyed upon impact. A series of mishaps, however, led to the failure of the first six flights. At one point, the program was called "shoot and hope".[1] Congress launched an investigation into "problems of management" at NASA Headquarters and Jet Propulsion Laboratory.[2] After two reorganizations of the agencies,[citation needed] Ranger 7 successfully returned images in July 1964, followed by two more successful missions.
Ranger was originally designed, beginning in 1959, in three distinct phases, called "blocks". Each block had different mission objectives and progressively more advanced system design. The JPL mission designers planned multiple launches in each block, to maximize the engineering experience and scientific value of the mission and to assure at least one successful flight. Total research, development, launch, and support costs for the Ranger series of spacecraft (Rangers 1 through 9) was approximately $170 million (equivalent to $1.25 billion in 2023).[3]
^Cortright Oral History (p25)
^Dick, Steven J. "NASA's First 50 Years: Historical Perspectives" (PDF). history.nasa.gov. NASA. p. 12. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
^Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
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used on flight plans for the JetRanger and LongRanger, and the designation "B06T" is used for the twin-engined TwinRangers. On October 14, 1960, the United...
National Park Service)". National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-01-23. "RangerPrograms - Kenai Fjords National Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps...
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