Ranger 7

Earth's Moon
Ranger 7
On July 31, 1964, the Ranger 7 spacecraft took this photo, the first image of the Moon taken by a United States spacecraft. 17 minutes later, it crashed into the Moon on the northern rim of the Sea of Clouds as intended. The 4,316 images sent back helped identify safe Moon landing sites for Apollo […]
Posted July 31, 2024
NASA History
Ranger 7
Long before Apollo astronauts set foot upon the Moon, much remained unknown about the lunar surface. While most scientists believed the Moon had a solid surface that would support astronauts and their landing craft, some believed a deep layer of dust covered it that would swallow any visitors. Until 1964, no closeup photographs of the […]
Posted July 29, 2024
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