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Credit & Copyright: NASA
Explanation:
On February 20th, 1965, the
Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed into
the Moon.
Rapidly transmitting a series of pictures to ground controllers,
its camera
recorded this one at an altitude of about 11 kilometers, 5
seconds before impacting the lunar surface.
Two kilometers across, with 4 meter sized objects visible,
the picture is of an area in the Sea of Tranquillity
north of the
Apollo 11 landing site.
The Ranger spacecraft represented the first attempts by the US to
obtain high resolution photos of the Moon, flying a crash course
toward selected areas and sending back pictures until the moment
of impact.
Tomorrow, another spacecraft will be
intentionally crashed into the Moon.
Its very successful mission in lunar orbit complete, the
Lunar Prospector is
scheduled to crash
into a crater near
the Moon's
south pole in an effort to confirm
the presence of water-ice
by studying the impact's debris cloud.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: impact - Ranger program - spacecraft - Ranger 8 - Moon
Publications with words: impact - Ranger program - spacecraft - Ranger 8 - Moon
See also: