Ranger spacecraft

The Ranger program was a series of unmanned 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.


Ranger 1, launched 23 August 1961, lunar prototype, launch failure
Ranger 2, launched 18 November 1961, lunar prototype, launch failure
Ranger 3, launched 26 January 1962, lunar probe, spacecraft failed, missed Moon
Ranger 4, launched 23 April 1962, lunar probe, spacecraft failed, impact
Ranger 5, launched 18 October 1962, lunar probe, spacecraft failed, missed

After Ranger 5 it was discovered that a type of diode used in previous missions produced problematic gold-plate flaking in the conditions of space. This may have been responsible for some of the failures.

Ranger 6, launched 30 January 1964, lunar probe, impact, cameras failed
Ranger 7
Launched 28 July 1964
Impacted Moon 31 July 1964
Ranger 8
Launched 17 February 1965
Impacted Moon 20 February 1965
Ranger 9
Launched 21 March 1965
Impacted Moon 24 March 1965