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First U.S. Image of the Moon
| title |
First U.S. Image of the Moon |
| date |
07.31.1964 |
| description |
Ranger 7 took this image, the first picture of the Moon by a U.S. spacecraft, on July 31, 1964 at 13:09 UT (9:09 AM EDT) about 17 minutes before impacting the lunar surface. The area photographed is centered at 13 S, 10 W and covers about 360 km from top to bottom. The large crater at center right is the 108 km diameter Alphonsus. Above it is Ptolemaeus and below it Arzachel. The terminator is at the bottom right corner. Mare Nubium is at center and left. North is at about 11:00 at the center of the frame. The Ranger 7 impact site is off the frame, to the left of the upper left corner. (Ranger 7, B001) The Ranger series of spacecraft were designed solely to take high-quality pictures of the Moon and transmit them back to Earth in real time. The images were to be used for scientific study, as well as selecting landing sites for the Apollo Moon missions. Ranger 7 was the first of the Ranger series to be entirely successful. It transmitted 4,308 high-quality images over the last 17 minutes of flight, the final image having a resolution of 0.5 meter/pixel. Ranger 7 was launched July 28, 1964 and arrived at the Moon on July 31, 1964. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Moon Crashers
| Title |
Moon Crashers |
| Explanation |
On July 31, 1964, Ranger 7 [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/database/www-nmc?64-041A ] crashed into the Moon. Seventeen minutes before [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990730.html ] impact it snapped this picture - the first image of the Moon [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/html/object_page/ra7_b001.html ] ever taken by a U.S. spacecraft. Of course Ranger 7 was intended to crash, transmitting close-up pictures of the lunar surface during its final moments. The Ranger program's [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/ranger.html ] goal was to begin high resolution mapping of the lunar surface in preparation for a future lunar landing [ http://www.nasm.edu/APOLLO/ ]. This first image covered 360 kilometers from top to bottom and is centered in the Mare [ http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/science/geography_items/mare.html ] Nubium (Sea of Clouds). The large crater at middle right, Alphonsus [ http://lunarprospector.arc.nasa.gov/science/ geography_items/carters/craters_a.html ], is 108 kilometers in diameter. On July 31, 1999, Lunar Prospector crashed [ http://www.lunarimpact.com/ ] into the Moon. During its successful 1 year mission to map the Moon's global properties from orbit, Lunar Prospector confirmed indications that water-ice [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/ice/ice_moon.html ] could be trapped in permanently shadowed craters near the lunar poles. Its mission complete, controllers intentionally targeted [ http://science.nasa.gov/current/event/ast04jun99_2.htm ] the spacecraft to impact a crater wall, hoping that water could be more directly detected in the resulting debris cloud - although the chances of a successful detection were considered low. Astronomers [ http://www.ae.utexas.edu/~cfpl/lunar/observations.html ] analyzing the data recently announced [ http://www.ae.utexas.edu/~cfpl/lunar/pressrelease/discussion.html ] that no visible signature of water was found, so the tantalizing case for water on the Moon remains open [ http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast13oct99_1.htm ]. |
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First Image of the Moon take
…
| Title |
First Image of the Moon taken by a U.S. Spacecraft |
| Description |
Ranger 7 took this image, the first picture of the Moon by aU.S. spacecraft, on 31 July 1964 at 13:09 UT (9:09 AM EDT)about 17 minutes before impacting the lunar surface. The area photographed is centered at 13 S, 10 W and covers about 360 km from top to bottom. The large crater at center right is the 108 km diameter Alphonsus. Above it is Ptolemaeus and below it Arzachel. The terminator is at the bottom right corner. Mare Nubium is at center and left. Nor this at about 11:00 at the center of the frame. The Ranger 7impact site is off the frame, to the left of the upper left corner. (Ranger 7, B001) The Ranger series of spacecraft were designed solely to take high-quality pictures of the Moon and transmit them back to Earth in real time. The images were to be used for scientific study, as well as selecting landing sites for the Apollo Moon missions. Ranger 7 was the first of the Ranger series to be entirely successful. It transmitted 4,308high-quality images over the last 17 minutes of flight, the final image having a resolution of 0.5 meter/pixel. Ranger 7 was launched July 28, 1964 and arrived at the Moon on July 31, 1964. |
| Date |
07.31.1964 |
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Guericke Crater as seen by R
…
| Title |
Guericke Crater as seen by Ranger 7 |
| Description |
Ranger 7 B-camera image of Guericke crater (11.5 S, 14.1 W, diameter 63 km) taken from a distance of 1335 km. The dark flat floor of Mare Nubium dominates most of the image, which was taken 8.5 minutes before Ranger 7 impacted the Moon on 31 July 1964. The frame is about 230 km across and north is at 12:30. The impact site is off the frame to the left. (Ranger 7, B100) The Ranger series of spacecraft were designed solely to take high-quality pictures of the Moon and transmit them back to Earth in real time. The images were to be used for scientific study, as well as selecting landing sites for the Apollo Moon missions. Ranger 7 was the first of the Ranger series to be entirely successful. It transmitted 4,308high-quality images over the last 17 minutes of flight, the final image having a resolution of 0.5 meter/pixel. Ranger 7 was launched July 28, 1964 and arrived at the Moon on July 31, 1964. |
| Date |
07.31.1964 |
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First Image of the Moon take
…
PIA02975
Earth
| Title |
First Image of the Moon taken by a U.S. Spacecraft |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Ranger 7 took this image, the first picture of the Moon by aU.S. spacecraft, on 31 July 1964 at 13:09 UT (9:09 AM EDT)about 17 minutes before impacting the lunar surface. The area photographed is centered at 13 S, 10 W and covers about 360 km from top to bottom. The large crater at center right is the 108 km diameter Alphonsus. Above it is Ptolemaeus and below it Arzachel. The terminator is at the bottom right corner. Mare Nubium is at center and left. Nor this at about 11:00 at the center of the frame. The Ranger 7impact site is off the frame, to the left of the upper left corner. (Ranger 7, B001) The Ranger series of spacecraft were designed solely to take high-quality pictures of the Moon and transmit them back to Earth in real time. The images were to be used for scientific study, as well as selecting landing sites for the Apollo Moon missions. Ranger 7 was the first of the Ranger series to be entirely successful. It transmitted 4,308high-quality images over the last 17 minutes of flight, the final image having a resolution of 0.5 meter/pixel. Ranger 7 was launched July 28, 1964 and arrived at the Moon on July 31, 1964. |
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Guericke Crater as seen by R
…
PIA02974
Earth
| Title |
Guericke Crater as seen by Ranger 7 |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Ranger 7 B-camera image of Guericke crater (11.5 S, 14.1 W, diameter 63 km) taken from a distance of 1335 km. The dark flat floor of Mare Nubium dominates most of the image, which was taken 8.5 minutes before Ranger 7 impacted the Moon on 31 July 1964. The frame is about 230 km across and north is at 12:30. The impact site is off the frame to the left. (Ranger 7, B100) The Ranger series of spacecraft were designed solely to take high-quality pictures of the Moon and transmit them back to Earth in real time. The images were to be used for scientific study, as well as selecting landing sites for the Apollo Moon missions. Ranger 7 was the first of the Ranger series to be entirely successful. It transmitted 4,308high-quality images over the last 17 minutes of flight, the final image having a resolution of 0.5 meter/pixel. Ranger 7 was launched July 28, 1964 and arrived at the Moon on July 31, 1964. |
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