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Ranger 1

Ranger 1

Ranger 1, the first of a series of nine spacecraft launched in the early 1960s to explore the moon, was a test spacecraft built as a prelude to future lunar missions.

Mission Statistics

Launch Date

Aug. 23, 1961

Type

Orbiter

Target

Earth

Status

Past

About the mission

Ranger 1, the first of a series of nine spacecraft launched in the early 1960s to explore the moon, was a test spacecraft built as a prelude to future lunar missions. It was designed to make a highly elliptical Earth orbit and carried several science instruments for studying cosmic rays, magnetic fields and energetic particles.

During launch, a rocket malfunction caused the spacecraft to get stranded in low-Earth orbit, and one week after launch, it burned up upon reentering Earth's atmosphere.

Instruments

  • Lyman-alpha telescope
  • Magnetometer
  • Electrostatic analyzer
  • Cosmic ray detector
  • Cosmic dust detector
  • Scintillation counters

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Slice of History - Fly Me to the Moon

  • › Fact Sheet
  • › Ranger 1 Information on JPL 101
  • › Ranger 1 Information on Solar System Exploration
  • › Ranger 1 Information on National Space Science Data Center

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