Ranger program
Videos
The Ranger program was a series of uncrewed space missions by the United States in the 1960s whose objective was to obtain the first close-up images of the surface of the Moon. The Ranger spacecraft w
First image of the Moon returned by a Ranger mission (Ranger 7 in 1964)
Program Ranger Organization Chart
Ranger block I spacecraft diagram. (NASA)
A Ranger probe undergoing restoration at the Udvar-Hazy Center
Ranger 8
Videos
Ranger 8 was a lunar probe in the Ranger program, a robotic spacecraft series launched by NASA in the early-to-mid-1960s to obtain the first close-up images of the Moon's surface. These pictures helpe
Ranger 8
Launch of Ranger 8 by an Atlas-Agena rocket (Atlas 196D)
Image of the Moon from 302 km, two and a half minutes before impact, showing the craters Ritter and Sabine.
Image of the Moon from 11 km, 5 seconds before impact, showing features as small as 4 meters.