Ranger 6 Organization: NASA Major contractors: Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mission type: Lunar Science Satellite of: Moon Launch date: January 30, 1964 at 15:49:00 UTC Launch vehicle: Atlas-Agena B Decay: Impacted on Moon on February 2, 1964, 09:24:32 UTC at 9.4° N - 21.5° E. Mission duration: 65.5 hours NSSDC ID: 1964-007A Webpage: NASA NSSDC Master Catalog Mass: 381 kg Orbits: Lunar impact edit

Instruments Television: transmit closeup pictures of the lunar surface

Ranger 6 was designed to achieve a lunar impact trajectory and to transmit high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minutes of flight up to impact. The spacecraft carried six television vidicon cameras, 2 wide angle (channel F, cameras A and B) and 4 narrow angle (channel P) to accomplish these objectives. The cameras were arranged in two separate chains, or channels, each self-contained with separate power supplies, timers, and transmitters so as to afford the greatest reliability and probability of obtaining high-quality video pictures. No other experiments were carried on the spacecraft. Due to a failure of the camera system no images were returned. Download high resolution version (526x642, 129 KB) Ranger Block III spacecraft (NASA) Downloaded from NASA NIX Website: http://nix. ... The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (IPA [ˈnæsə]) is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nations public space program. ... For the singer/songwriter, see Jon Peter Lewis. ... For other moons in the solar system see natural satellite. ... This article is about Earths moon. ... is the 30th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... UTC redirects here. ... Mercury Atlas 9 rocket and capsule on pad The Atlas is a venerable line of space launch vehicles built by Lockheed Martin. ... is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) is a department in NASAs Solar System Exploration Division. ... In older video cameras, prior to the 1990s, a video camera tube or pickup tube was used instead of a charge-coupled device (CCD). ...

Spacecraft design

Rangers 6, 7, 8, and 9 were the so-called Block 3 versions of the Ranger spacecraft. The spacecraft consisted of a hexagonal aluminum frame base 1.5 m across on which was mounted the propulsion and power units, topped by a truncated conical tower which held the TV cameras. Two solar panel wings, each 739 mm wide by 1537 mm long, extended from opposite edges of the base with a full span of 4.6 m, and a pointable high gain dish antenna was hinge mounted at one of the corners of the base away from the solar panels. A cylindrical quasiomnidirectional antenna was seated on top of the conical tower. The overall height of the spacecraft was 3.6 m. First image of the Moon taken by a US spacecraft. ... Ranger 8 was designed to achieve a lunar impact trajectory and to transmit high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minutes of flight up to impact. ... Ranger 9 was designed to achieve a lunar impact trajectory and to transmit high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minutes of flight up to impact. ... A photovoltaic module is composed of individual PV cells. ...

Propulsion for the mid-course trajectory correction was provided by a 224 N thrust monopropellant hydrazine engine with 4 jet-vane vector control. Orientation and attitude control about 3 axes was enabled by 12 nitrogen gas jets coupled to a system of 3 gyros, 4 primary Sun sensors, 2 secondary Sun sensors, and an Earth sensor. Power was supplied by 9792 Si solar cells contained in the two solar panels, giving a total array area of 2.3 square meters and producing 200 W. Two 1200 watt.hour AgZnO batteries rated at 26.5 V with a capacity for 9 hours of operation provided power to each of the separate communication/TV camera chains. Two 1000 watt.hour AgZnO batteries stored power for spacecraft operations. Hydrazine is the chemical compound with formula N2H4. ... General Name, symbol, number nitrogen, N, 7 Chemical series nonmetals Group, period, block 15, 2, p Appearance colorless gas Standard atomic weight 14. ... A gyroscope For other uses, see Gyroscope (disambiguation). ...

Communications were through the quasiomnidirectional low-gain antenna and the parabolic high-gain antenna. Transmitters aboard the spacecraft included a 60 W TV channel F at 959.52 MHz, a 60 W TV channel P at 960.05 MHz, and a 3 W transponder channel 8 at 960.58 MHz. The telecommunications equipment converted the composite video signal from the camera transmitters into an RF signal for subsequent transmission through the spacecraft high-gain antenna. Sufficient video bandwidth was provided to allow for rapid framing sequences of both narrow- and wide-angle television pictures.

Mission Profile

Ranger 6 was launched into an Earth parking orbit and injected on a lunar trajectory by a second Agena burn. The midcourse trajectory correction was accomplished early in the flight by ground control. On February 2, 1964, 65.5 hours after launch, Ranger 6 impacted the Moon on the eastern edge of Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility). The orientation of the spacecraft to the surface during descent was correct, but no video signal was received and no camera data obtained. A review board determined the most likely cause of failure was due to an arc-over in the TV power system when it inadvertently turned on for 67 seconds approximately 2 minutes after launch during the period of booster-engine separation. A parking orbit is a temporary orbit used during the launch of a satellite or other space probe. ...

This fourth American attempt at lunar impact was the closest success. The spacecraft, the first Block III type vehicle with a suite of six TV cameras, was sterilized to avoid contaminating the lunar surface. The series would also serve as a test bed for future interplanetary spacecraft by deploying systems (such as solar panels) that could be used for more ambitious missions. The Block III spacecraft carried a 173-kilogram TV unit (replacing the impact capsule carried on the Block II Ranger spacecraft). The six cameras included two full-scan and four partial-scan cameras. Ranger 6 flew to the Moon successfully and impacted precisely on schedule at 09:24:32 UT on 2 February. Unfortunately, the power supply for the TV camera package had short-circuited three days previously during Atlas booster separation and left the system inoperable. The cameras were to have transmitted high-resolution photos of the lunar approach from 1,448 kilometers to 6.4 kilometers range in support of Project Apollo. Impact coordinates were 9°24' north latitude and 21°30' east longitude.

See also

• List of artificial objects on the Moon

Map of the moon showing some landing sites. ...

External links

• Lunar impact: A history of Project Ranger (PDF) 1977

 

Ranger
Previous mission:	Ranger 5	Next mission:	Ranger 7
Ranger 1 | Ranger 2 | Ranger 3 | Ranger 4 | Ranger 5 | Ranger 6 | Ranger 7 | Ranger 8 | Ranger 9

This article contains material that originally came from a NASA website. According to their site usage guidelines, "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". For more information, please review NASA's use guidelines. 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. ... Download high resolution version (526x642, 129 KB) Ranger Block III spacecraft (NASA) Downloaded from NASA NIX Website: http://nix. ... Ranger 5 was a spacecraft of the Ranger program designed to transmit pictures of the lunar surface to Earth stations during a period of 10 minutes of flight prior to impacting on the Moon, to rough-land a seismometer capsule on the Moon, to collect gamma-ray data in flight... First image of the Moon taken by a US spacecraft. ... Ranger 1 was a spacecraft in the Ranger program whose primary mission was to test the performance of those functions and parts necessary for carrying out subsequent lunar and planetary missions. ... Ranger 2 was a flight test of the Ranger spacecraft system of the Ranger program designed for future lunar and interplanetary missions. ... Ranger 3 was a spacecraft of the Ranger program that was launched to study the Moon on January 26, 1962. ... Ranger 4 was a spacecraft of the Ranger program designed to transmit pictures of the lunar surface to Earth stations during a period of 10 minutes of flight prior to impacting on the Moon, to rough-land a seismometer capsule on the Moon, to collect gamma-ray data in flight... Ranger 5 was a spacecraft of the Ranger program designed to transmit pictures of the lunar surface to Earth stations during a period of 10 minutes of flight prior to impacting on the Moon, to rough-land a seismometer capsule on the Moon, to collect gamma-ray data in flight... First image of the Moon taken by a US spacecraft. ... Ranger 8 was designed to achieve a lunar impact trajectory and to transmit high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minutes of flight up to impact. ... Ranger 9 was designed to achieve a lunar impact trajectory and to transmit high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minutes of flight up to impact. ... The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (IPA [ˈnæsə]) is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nations public space program. ... Not to be confused with copywriting. ...