# Ranger program

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American uncrewed lunar space missions in the 1960s

For the U.S. Army training course, see [Ranger School](/source/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](/source/Uncrewed_space_mission) by the [United States](/source/United_States) in the 1960s whose objective was to obtain the first close-up images of the [surface of the Moon](/source/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](/source/NASA) Headquarters and [Jet Propulsion Laboratory](/source/JPL).[2] After two reorganizations of the agencies,[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] [Ranger 7](/source/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](/source/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 $1.29 billion in 2024).[3]

## Ranger spacecraft

Program Ranger Organization Chart

Each of the block III Ranger spacecraft had six cameras on board. The cameras were fundamentally the same with differences in exposure times, fields of view, lenses, and scan rates. The camera system was divided into two channels, P (partial) and F (full). Each channel was self-contained with separate power supplies, timers, and transmitters. The F-channel had two cameras: the wide-angle A-camera and the narrow angle B-camera. The P-channel had four cameras: P1 and P2 (narrow angle) and P3 and P4 (wide angle). The final F-channel image was taken between 2.5 and 5 seconds before impact (altitude about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi)) and the last P-channel image 0.2 to 0.4 seconds before impact (altitude about 600 metres (2,000 ft)). The images provided better resolution than was available from Earth-based views by a factor of 1000. The design and construction of the cameras was led by [Leonard R Malling](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leonard_R_Malling&action=edit&redlink=1).[4][5][6][7]

The Ranger program manager for the first five spacecraft was [James D. Burke](/source/James_Burke_(space_engineer)).[8] After all five missions failed, [Harris Schurmeier](/source/Harris_Schurmeier) was assigned as the project manager. Ranger 6 failed, but Rangers 7, 8, and 9 were successful.

The camera preamplifiers of the Ranger program used [nuvistors](/source/Nuvistor).[9]

## Mission list

### Block 1 missions

Ranger block I spacecraft diagram. (NASA)

- [Ranger 1](/source/Ranger_1), launched 23 August 1961, lunar prototype, launch failure

- [Ranger 2](/source/Ranger_2), launched 18 November 1961, lunar prototype, launch failure

Block 1, consisting of two spacecraft launched into Earth orbit in 1961, was intended to test the [Atlas-Agena](/source/Atlas-Agena) launch vehicle and spacecraft equipment without attempting to reach the Moon.

Problems with the early version of the launch vehicle left [Ranger 1](/source/Ranger_1) and [Ranger 2](/source/Ranger_2) in short-lived, low-Earth orbits in which the spacecraft could not stabilize themselves, collect solar power, or survive for long. In 1962, JPL utilized the Ranger 1 and Ranger 2 design for the failed [Mariner 1](/source/Mariner_1) and successful [Mariner 2](/source/Mariner_2) deep-space probes to [Venus](/source/Venus).

### Block 2 missions

A Ranger probe undergoing restoration at the [Udvar-Hazy Center](/source/Udvar-Hazy_Center)

- [Ranger 3](/source/Ranger_3), launched 26 January 1962, lunar probe, spacecraft failed, missed Moon

- [Ranger 4](/source/Ranger_4), launched 23 April 1962, lunar probe, spacecraft failed, Moon impact

- [Ranger 5](/source/Ranger_5), launched 18 October 1962, lunar probe, spacecraft failed, missed Moon

Block 2 of the Ranger project launched three spacecraft to the Moon in 1962, carrying a TV camera, a radiation detector, and a seismometer in a separate capsule slowed by a rocket motor and packaged to survive its low-speed impact on the Moon's surface. The craft weighed 331 kg. The three missions together demonstrated good performance of the Atlas/Agena B launch vehicle and the adequacy of the spacecraft design, but unfortunately not both on the same attempt. [Ranger 3](/source/Ranger_3) had problems with both the launch vehicle and the spacecraft, missed the Moon by about 36,800 km, and has orbited the Sun ever since. [Ranger 4](/source/Ranger_4) had a perfect launch, but the spacecraft was completely disabled. The project team tracked the seismometer capsule to impact just out of sight on the [lunar far side](/source/Far_side_(Moon)), validating the communications and navigation system. [Ranger 5](/source/Ranger_5) missed the Moon and was disabled. No significant science information was gleaned from these missions.

Around the end of Block 2, it was discovered that a type of diode used in previous missions produced problematic gold-plate flaking in the conditions of space. This may have been responsible for some of the failures.[10]

### Block 3 missions

- [Ranger 6](/source/Ranger_6), launched 30 January 1964, lunar probe, Moon impact, cameras failed

- [Ranger 7](/source/Ranger_7) - Launched 28 July 1964 - Impacted Moon 31 July 1964 at 13:25:49 UT - [10°21′S 20°35′W / 10.35°S 20.58°W / -10.35; -20.58 (Ranger 7)](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Ranger_program&params=10.35_S_20.58_W_globe:Moon_type:landmark&title=Ranger+7) - [Mare Cognitum](/source/Mare_Cognitum)

- [Ranger 8](/source/Ranger_8) - Launched 17 February 1965 - Impacted Moon 20 February 1965 at 09:57:37 UT - [2°40′N 24°39′E / 2.67°N 24.65°E / 2.67; 24.65 (Ranger 8)](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Ranger_program&params=2.67_N_24.65_E_globe:Moon_type:landmark&title=Ranger+8) - [Mare Tranquillitatis](/source/Mare_Tranquillitatis) (Sea of Tranquility)

- [Ranger 9](/source/Ranger_9) - Launched 21 March 1965 - Impacted Moon 24 March 1965 at 14:08:20 UT - [12°50′S 2°22′W / 12.83°S 2.37°W / -12.83; -2.37 (Ranger 9)](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Ranger_program&params=12.83_S_2.37_W_globe:moon_type:landmark&title=Ranger+9) - [Alphonsus crater](/source/Alphonsus_crater)

Ranger's Block 3 embodied four launches in 1964-65. These spacecraft boasted a television instrument designed to observe the lunar surface during the approach; as the spacecraft neared the Moon, it would reveal detail smaller than the best Earth telescopes could show, and finally [dishpan](/source/Dishpan)-sized craters.[11] The first of the new series, [Ranger 6](/source/Ranger_6), had a flawless flight, except that the television system was disabled by an in-flight accident and could take no pictures.

The next three Rangers, with a redesigned television, were completely successful. [Ranger 7](/source/Ranger_7) photographed its way down to target in a lunar plain, soon named [Mare Cognitum](/source/Mare_Cognitum), south of the crater [Copernicus](/source/Copernicus_(lunar_crater)). It sent more than 4,300 pictures from six cameras to waiting scientists and engineers. 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. Great craters were marked by small ones, and the small with tiny impact pockmarks, as far down in size as could be discerned—about 50 centimeters (20 inches). The light-colored streaks radiating from Copernicus and a few other large craters turned out to be chains and nets of small craters and debris blasted out in the primary impacts.

In February 1965, [Ranger 8](/source/Ranger_8) swept an oblique course over the south of [Oceanus Procellarum](/source/Oceanus_Procellarum) and [Mare Nubium](/source/Mare_Nubium), to crash in [Mare Tranquillitatis](/source/Mare_Tranquillitatis) about 70 kilometers (43 mi) distant from where [Apollo 11](/source/Apollo_11) would land 4½ years later. It took more than 7,000 images, covering a wider area and reinforcing the conclusions from Ranger 7. About a month later, [Ranger 9](/source/Ranger_9) came down in the 90-kilometer (56-mile) diameter crater [Alphonsus](/source/Alphonsus_(crater)). Its 5,800 images, nested concentrically and taking advantage of very low-level sunlight, provided strong confirmation of the crater-on-crater, gently rolling contours of the lunar surface.

		- Ranger 7

		- Ranger block III spacecraft diagram. (NASA)

## See also

- [Apollo program](/source/Apollo_program)

- [Luna programme](/source/Luna_programme)

- [Lunar Orbiter program](/source/Lunar_Orbiter_program)

- [Pioneer program](/source/Pioneer_program)

- [Surveyor program](/source/Surveyor_program)

- [Timeline of Solar System exploration](/source/Timeline_of_Solar_System_exploration)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Cortright Oral History (p25)](https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/oral_histories/CortrightEM/EMC_8-20-98.pdf)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Dick, Steven J. ["NASA's First 50 Years: Historical Perspectives"](https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4704.pdf) (PDF). *history.nasa.gov*. NASA. p. 12. Retrieved 17 June 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-inflation-USGDP_3-0)** Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). ["What Was the U.S. GDP Then?"](http://www.measuringworth.com/datasets/usgdp/). *[MeasuringWorth](/source/MeasuringWorth)*. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States [Gross Domestic Product deflator](/source/Gross_Domestic_Product_deflator) figures follow the *MeasuringWorth* series.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Jet Propulsion Laboratory](/source/Jet_Propulsion_Laboratory) - Malling, L. R. (1962). [Planetary photography- Television camera for a geological survey of the planet Mars](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19660002908) (PDF) (Report). NASA-JPL.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Jet Propulsion Laboratory](/source/Jet_Propulsion_Laboratory) - Malling, L. R. (1963). [Space astronomy and the slow-scan vidicon system](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19640004932) (PDF) (Report). NASA-JPL.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Jet Propulsion Laboratory](/source/Jet_Propulsion_Laboratory) - Malling, L. R. (1966). [Digital television camera control system Patent](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19700032491) (PDF) (Report). NASA-JPL.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Jet Propulsion Laboratory](/source/Jet_Propulsion_Laboratory) - Malling, L. R. (1968). [Reduced bandwidth video communication system utilizing sampling techniques Patent](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19710013550) (PDF) (Report). NASA-JPL.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-ranger2_8-0)** ["LUNAR IMPACT: A History of Project Ranger, Part I. The Original Ranger, Chapter Two - ORGANIZING THE CAMPAIGN"](https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4210/pages/Ch_2.htm#Ch2_R42). *NASA History*. NASA. Retrieved 14 July 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Nuvistor Valves by Stef Niewiadomski.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["ch8"](https://history.nasa.gov/SP-480/ch8.htm).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["The View From Ranger"](https://books.google.com/books?id=2sIfAAAAIAAJ&q=showing+dishpan-sized+craters&pg=PA47). NASA-JPL. 1961. p. 47.

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Ranger program](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ranger_program).

English [Wikisource](/source/Wikisource) has original text related to this article:

**[NASA FACTS Volume 2 number 6 PROJECT RANGER](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/en:NASA_FACTS_Volume_2_number_6_PROJECT_RANGER)**

- [Lunar Impact: A History of Project Ranger (PDF) 1977](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19780007206_1978007206.pdf)

- [Lunar Impact: A History of Project Ranger (HTML)](https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4210/pages/Cover.htm)

Both links lead to a whole book on the program. For the HTML one, scroll down to see the table of contents link.

- [Ranger Program Page](https://web.archive.org/web/20151201201709/http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?MCode=Ranger) by [NASA's Solar System Exploration](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov)

- [Exploring the Moon: The Ranger Program](http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/ranger/ranger.html)

- [Ranger Photography of the Moon](http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/ranger/) Lunar and Planetary Institute

- [NASA History Series Publications](https://history.nasa.gov/series95.html) (many of which are on-line)

v t e Ranger program Ranger 1 Ranger 2 Ranger 3 Ranger 4 Ranger 5 Ranger 6 Ranger 7 Ranger 8 Ranger 9

v t e Spacecraft missions to the Moon Exploration programs American Apollo Artemis CLPS Lunar Orbiter Lunar Precursor Pioneer Ranger Surveyor Chinese Chang'e European Terrae Novae Indian Chandrayaan Japanese Japanese Lunar Exploration Program South Korean Korean Lunar Exploration Program Russian Luna-Glob Soviet Crewed Luna Lunokhod Zond Active missions Orbiters ARTEMIS CAPSTONE Chandrayaan-2 Chang'e 5-T1 Danuri Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Queqiao 1 and 2 Tiandu-1 2 ICUBE-Q Landers Chang'e 4 Rovers Yutu-2 Past missions Crewed landings Apollo 11 12 14 15 16 17 (List of Apollo astronauts) Orbiters Apollo 8 10 Artemis I Chang'e 1 2 5 Chandrayaan-1 3 Clementine Explorer 35 49 GRAIL Hiten LADEE Longjiang-2 Luna 10 11 12 14 19 22 Lunar Orbiter 1 2 3 4 5 Lunar Prospector PFS-1 PFS-2 SMART-1 SELENE (Kaguya, Okina, Ouna) Lunar Trailblazer Impactors LCROSS Luna 2 Moon Impact Probe Ranger 4 6 7 8 9 Landers Apollo Lunar Module ×6 Blue Ghost M1 Chandrayaan-3 Chang'e 3 Chang'e 5 6 Luna 9 13 16 17 20 21 23 24 SLIM Surveyor 1 3 5 6 7 Rovers Lunar Roving Vehicle Apollo 15 16 17 Lunokhod 1 2 Yutu Pragyan 2 3 LEV-1 LEV-2 (Sora-Q) Jinchan Yaoki MAPP Micro-Nova AstroAnt Sample return Apollo 11 12 14 15 16 17 Luna 16 20 24 Chang'e 5 6 Failed landings Beresheet Emirates Lunar Mission Hakuto-R M1 M2 IM-1 2 Luna 5 7 8 15 18 25 OMOTENASHI Surveyor 2 4 Vikram Peregrine Flybys 4M Apollo 13 Artemis II Chang'e 5-T1 Geotail Galileo ICE Longjiang-1 Luna 1 3 4 6 LunaH-Map Lunar Flashlight Lunar IceCube LunIR Mariner 10 NEA Scout Nozomi Pioneer 4 Ranger 5 STEREO TESS WMAP Wind Zond 3 5 6 7 8 PAS-22 ArgoMoon Planned missions Artemis IV (2028) V (2028) CLPS Blue Moon Pathfinder 1 (2026) Griffin M1 (2026) IM-3 (2026) Blue Ghost M2 (2026) Blue Moon Pathfinder 2 (2027) Blue Ghost M3 (2028) IM-4 (2020s) IM-5 (2030) ispace M5 (2030) Luna-Glob 26 (2028) 27A (2029) 27B (2030) 29 (2032) 28 (2034) 30 (2036) CLEP Chang'e 7 (2026) 8 (2028) Chandrayaan 4 (2027) 5 (LUPEX) (2028) KLEP Korean lunar lander (2032) ESA Lunar Pathfinder (2026) LUMIO (2027) Moonlight Programme (2028) VMMO (2028) MAGPIE (2028) Máni (2029) Argonaut M1 (2031) Others ispace M2.5 (2027) DESTINY+ (2028) ispace M3 (2028) ispace M4 (2029) Cislunar Explorers (2020s) CU-E3 (2020s) MoonRanger (2020s) International Lunar Research Station (2030s) Proposed missions Robotic ALINA Artemis-7 Blue Moon BOLAS Garatéa-L ISOCHRON LunaNet Lunar Crater Radio Telescope McCandless Moon Diver Moonraker Crewed DSE-Alpha Boeing Lunar Lander Lockheed Martin Lunar Lander Cancelled / concepts Altair Baden-Württemberg 1 Beresheet 2 #dearMoon project European Lunar Explorer First Lunar Outpost International Lunar Network LEO LK Lunar-A Lunar Gateway Lunar Lander Lunar Mission One Lunar Observer Lunokhod 3 MoonLITE MoonRise OrbitBeyond Project Harvest Moon Prospector Resource Prospector SELENE-2 Ukrselena XL-1 VIPER Related Colonization of the Moon "We choose to go to the Moon" "One small step" Google Lunar X Prize List of lunar probes List of missions to the Moon List of artificial objects on the Moon List of species that have landed on the Moon Lunar resources Apollo 17 Moon mice Moon landing conspiracy theories Third-party evidence for Apollo Moon landings Apollo 11 anniversaries List of crewed lunar landers Missions are ordered by launch date. Crewed missions are in italics.

v t e NASA planetary exploration programs Active Large strategic science missions Lunar Discovery & Exploration Mars Exploration Planetary Missions Discovery New Frontiers Solar System Exploration Ocean Worlds Exploration Voyager Completed Lunar Orbiter Lunar Precursor Mariner MESUR New Millennium Pioneer Planetary Observer Ranger Surveyor Viking Cancelled Grand Tour Mariner Mark II Project Prometheus Voyager (Mars) List of NASA missions

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v t e Jet Propulsion Laboratory Current missions Euclid Psyche ACRIMSAT ASTER Atmospheric infrared sounder (AIRS) Deep Space Atomic Clock GRACE-FO InSight Juno Keck observatory Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) Mars Odyssey Mars 2020 Perseverance rover Ingenuity helicopter Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Microwave limb sounder (MLS) Multi-angle imaging spectroradiometer (MISR) Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) SWOT Voyager program Voyager 1 Voyager 2 Past missions Cassini-Huygens Dawn Deep Impact Deep Space 1 Deep Space 2 Explorers GALEX Galileo spacecraft Genesis GRACE Herschel IRAS Jason-1 Kepler Magellan Mariner Mars Climate Orbiter Mars Cube One (MarCO) Mars Observer Mars Pathfinder Mars Polar Lander Mars Global Surveyor Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit rover Opportunity rover Near-Earth Asteroid Scout NSCAT Phoenix Pioneer QuikSCAT Ranger Rosetta Seasat Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) Solar Mesosphere Explorer (SME) Spaceborne Imaging Radar (SIR) Spitzer Space Telescope Stardust Surveyor SVLBI TOPEX/Poseidon Ulysses Viking Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WFPC) Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) Lunar Flashlight Planned missions Europa Clipper Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope SPHEREx Proposed missions Europa Lander FINESSE Canceled missions Astrobiology Field Laboratory (AFL) Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher (MAX-C) Related organizations NASA Caltech NASA Deep Space Network Goldstone Complex Table Mountain Observatory Solar System Ambassadors JPL Science Division Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking Space Flight Operations Facility

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ranger program](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranger_program) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranger_program?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.