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Ranger 8
| title |
Ranger 8 |
| date |
02.17.1965 |
| description |
Ranger 8 was designed to achieve a lunar impact trajectory and to transmit high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minutes of flight up to impact. The spacecraft carried six television vidicon cameras, 2 wide angle (channel F, cameras A and B) and 4 narrow angle (channel P) to accomplish these objectives. The cameras were arranged in two separate chains, or channels, each self-contained with separate power supplies, timers, and transmitters so as to afford the greatest reliability and probability of obtaining high-quality video pictures. No other experiments were carried on the spacecraft. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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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
…
| 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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Ranger 9
| title |
Ranger 9 |
| date |
03.21.1965 |
| description |
Ranger 9 was designed to achieve a lunar impact trajectory and to transmit high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minutes of flight up to impact. The spacecraft carried six television vidicon cameras, 2 wide angle (channel F, cameras A and B) and 4 narrow angle (channel P) to accomplish these objectives. The cameras were arranged in two separate chains, or channels, each self-contained with separate power supplies, timers, and transmitters so as to afford the greatest reliability and probability of obtaining high-quality video pictures. No other experiments were carried on the spacecraft. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Hubble Resolves Expiration D
…
| Title |
Hubble Resolves Expiration Date For Green Cheese Moon |
| Explanation |
Using the new camera on the Hubble Space Telescope [ http://hubblesite.org/reference_desk/faq/ answer.php.id=77&cat=topten ], astronomers have been able to confirm that the Moon is made of green cheese [ http://www.planetfusion.co.uk/~pignut/cheese.html ]. The telling clue was the resolution of a marked date after which the Moon [ http://www.nineplanets.org/luna.html ] may go bad. Controversy [ http://peace.saumag.edu/faculty/Kardas/Courses/ GPWeiten/C1Intro/GreenCheese.html ] still exists, however, over whether the date resolved is truly an expiration date [ http://www.consumeraffairs.com/nutrition/ expiration_dates.htm ] or just a "sell by" date. "To be cautious, we should completely devour the Moon by tomorrow," a spokesperson advised. Happy April Fool's Day from the folks at APOD [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050616.html ]. The above image [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/html/object_page/ ra9_b001.html ] (slightly altered) was actually taken in 1965 by the Ranger 9 [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/ MasterCatalog?sc=1965-023A ] probe minutes before impact. The popular Moon is made of Green Cheese [ http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990723a.html ] myth can be traced back almost 500 years. It has been used historically in context to indicate a claim so clearly false that no one -- not even April Fools [ http://wilstar.com/holidays/aprilfool.htm ] -- will believe it. |
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Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus and Ar
…
| 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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Hubble Resolves Expiration D
…
| Title |
Hubble Resolves Expiration Date For Green Cheese Moon |
| Explanation |
Using the new camera [ http://www.stsci.edu/hst/localNews?display_type=all#HeadlineNews ] on the recently refitted [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020314.html ] Hubble Space Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010806.html ], astronomers have been able to confirm that the Moon is made of green cheese [ http://www.cheese.com/facts1.asp ]. The telling clue was the resolution of a numeric date after which the Moon [ http://www.nineplanets.org/luna.html ] may go bad. Controversy [ http://peace.saumag.edu/faculty/Kardas/Courses/GPWeiten/C1Intro/GreenCheese.html ] still exists, however, over whether the date resolved is truly an expiration date [ http://www.consumeraffairs.com/nutrition/expiration_dates.htm ] or just a "sell by" date. "To be cautious, we should completely devour the Moon by tomorrow," a spokesperson advised. Happy April Fool's Day [ http://www.usis.usemb.se/Holidays/celebrate/april.html ] from the folks at APOD [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html ]. The above image [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/html/object_page/ra9_b001.html ] (slightly altered) was actually taken in 1965 by the Ranger 9 [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/tmp/1965-023A.html ] probe minutes before impact. The popular "Moon is made of Green Cheese" myth [ http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990723a.html ] can be traced back almost 500 years. It [ http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/wcc3/humor/green_cheese.html ] has been used historically in context to indicate a claim so clearly false that no one -- not even April Fools [ http://wilstar.com/holidays/aprilfool.htm ] -- will believe it. |
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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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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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MOON SURFACE PHOTOGRAPHED BY
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| Title |
MOON SURFACE PHOTOGRAPHED BY RANGER 9 SPACECRAFT |
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