The Ranger Program created the first spacecraft to take detailed photographs of the moon. Without it, Apollo 11 and the subsequent moon landings would not have been possible.
It took six “failed” versions of Ranger (each providing valuable data to the engineers and scientists working on the project) before Ranger 7 finally managed to successfully transmit photographs of the moon back to Earth. It took over 4300 pictures of the lunar surface before its planned crash into the dusty terrain. Ranger 7 captured images of craters as small as 18’’ in diameter. This allowed scientists to map the lunar surface more accurately than ever before, crucial to picking a desirable landing site for manned missions to the moon.
Ranger Program engineer Bob Conover remembers facing “lots and lots of pressure” to get the project done quickly and successfully because the Apollo Program was in development at the same time. It was the Space Race and America desperately wanted to land a man on the moon as soon as possible, before the Russians did. “It really was a race,” Bob recalls.
WHAT IS RANGER?
Image courtesy of the California Science Center. Used with permission.