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Ranger 5

Ranger 5

The third attempt by the United States to land a spacecraft on the moon, Ranger 5 was designed to collect data on interplanetary space, photograph the moon up close and make a rough landing on the lunar surface.

Mission Statistics

Launch Date

Oct. 18, 1962

Type

Lander/Rover

Target

Moon

Status

Past

About the mission

The third attempt by the United States to land a spacecraft on the moon, Ranger 5 was designed to collect data on interplanetary space, photograph the moon up close and make a rough landing on the lunar surface. The lander was part of the series of nine Ranger spacecraft launched in the early 1960s to explore the moon.

However, a malfunction with the spacecraft's batteries caused them to drain after about eight hours of flight, leaving Ranger 5 inoperable. The spacecraft missed the moon by 450.5 miles (725 kilometers) on October 21, 1962 and remains in heliocentric orbit.

Instruments

  • Imaging system
  • Gamma ray spectrometer
  • Radar altimeter
  • Seismometer

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› Fact Sheet
› Ranger 5 Information on JPL 101
› Ranger 5 Information on Solar System Exploration
› Ranger 5 Information on National Space Science Data Center

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