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First Ranger 9 Image
| title |
First Ranger 9 Image |
| date |
03.24.1965 |
| description |
The first Ranger 9 image of the Moon, taken with the A camera from a distance of 2378 km. The image is centered on the Mare Nubium region of the Moon, which extends to the bottom of the image. At upper left is southeastern Oceanus Procellarum. The two craters with the central peaks at right are Alphonsus, diameter 108 km, and below it Arzachel, diameter 96 km. The crater near the center at about 8:00 is 60 km Bullialdus. The frame is approximately 1050 km across and north is at 12:30. The final impact point of Ranger 9 is in the Alphonsus crater, midway between the central peak and rim at about 1:30. (Ranger 9, A001) *Image Credit*: NASA |
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First Picture of the Moon Ta
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| title |
First Picture of the Moon Taken by Ranger 8 |
| date |
02.20.1965 |
| description |
First full-frame image of the Moon taken by the Ranger 8 camera A from a distance of 2,573 km. The image was taken on 20 Feb. 1965 at 09:34 UT with the spacecraft at an altitude of 2510 km. The central reticle is at 10.65 degrees south latitude, 22.4 degrees west longitude, in the Mare Cognitum area of the Moon. North is up, and the picture extends 1200 km across, from about 5 N to 30 S latitude, and from 5 W to 45 W longitude. The craters Campanus and Mercator are visible at the bottom center. Gassandi crater (101 km diameter) is the bright circle near the edge of the frame at 8:00. The Apollo 12 landing site is near top center and Apollo 14 slightly to the right of that. (Ranger 8, A001) *Image Credit*: NASA |
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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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Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus and Ar
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| Title |
Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus and Arzachel |
| Explanation |
These three ancient, large impact craters lie on the north eastern shores [ http://www.lunarrepublic.com/atlas/sections/e4.shtml ] of Mare Nubium, the lunar [ http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/lunarform/ maria.html ] Sea of Clouds. Along the top of the stark mosaic [ http://www.avertedimagination.com/img_pages/Big_mosiac.html ] (left to right) are the namesakes of [ http://www.cityastronomy.com/ptolemy-article.htm ] Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus and Arzachel. The picture offers a remarkably detailed view of the well-studied [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonsus_(crater) ] region with shadows emphasizing the large crater central peaks and slumping walls. Careful examination also reveals the 110 kilometer long Straight Wall [ http://www.salzgeber.at/astro/moon/straight_wall.html ], a fault 200-300 meters high, and the intriguing Davy crater chain [ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/slidesets/ 3dsolarsystem/slide_17.html ]. Overall, the striking moonscape is similar to the final images recorded by the Ranger 9 [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/ MasterCatalog?sc=1965-023A ] spacecraft, before it crashed into the 108 kilometer wide crater Alphonsus in [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060401.html ] March of 1965. |
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The Sea of Tranquillity: 5 S
…
| Title |
The Sea of Tranquillity: 5 Seconds To Impact |
| Explanation |
On February 20th, 1965, the Ranger 8 spacecraft [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/ranger.html ] crashed into the Moon [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/moonfact.html ]. Rapidly transmitting a series of pictures to ground controllers, its camera recorded this one [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/html/object_page/ra8_b090.html ] at an altitude of about 11 kilometers, 5 seconds before impacting the lunar surface. Two kilometers across, with 4 meter sized objects visible, the picture is of an area in the Sea of Tranquillity north of the Apollo 11 [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/ap11ann/introduction.htm ] landing site. The Ranger spacecraft represented the first attempts by the US to obtain high resolution photos of the Moon, flying a crash course toward selected areas and sending back pictures until the moment of impact. Tomorrow, another spacecraft [ http://ccf.arc.nasa.gov/dx/basket/pressrelease/99_36AR.html ] will be intentionally crashed into the Moon. Its very successful mission in lunar orbit complete, the Lunar Prospector [ http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/ ] is scheduled to crash [ http://www.lunarimpact.com/ ] into a crater near the Moon's [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980115.html ] south pole in an effort to confirm the presence of water-ice [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980306.html ] by studying the impact's debris cloud. |
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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
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| 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 |
|
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 |
|
First Image of the Moon take
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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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Live from the Moon - Impact!
PIA03495
Earth
TV Camera
| Title |
Live from the Moon - Impact! |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
On March 24, 1965, a nationwide TV audience watched live video from Ranger 9 as it purposefully crashed into the Moon within the crater Alphonsus. Ranger's six cameras sent back more than 5800 video images during the last 18 minutes of its 3-day journey, the last of the Ranger Project. The last few images show the lunar surface in detail from a few hundred meters above. This sequence of images from Camera A was converted from video to film to laser disc to digital files. |
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