Ranger 2
Spacecraft· NASA / JPLlost
Ranger 2 — the second Ranger test flight (18 November 1961). The same Agena restart failure left it in a short-lived Earth orbit that decayed within about two days; it never reached a lunar trajectory.
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Key facts
Distance from Sun
0.996 AU
Status
Lost
Launched
1961
Mission & specifications
Mission
- Operator
- NASA / JPL
- Launched
- November 18, 1961
- Status
- Lost
Trajectory
- Distance from the Sun
- 0.996 AU
- Computed from the cached position
- Distance from Earth
- 1,470,296 km
- Computed from cached positions
- Distance from Venus
- 0.276 AU
- Computed from cached positions
Mission
Ranger 2 repeated its sister's fate almost exactly. Launched on 18 November 1961 as the second test flight of the Ranger design, it was crippled by the same weakness — the Agena upper stage would not restart — and was left in a low orbit that decayed within about two days. Two flights, two identical failures, and the programme had not yet even aimed at the Moon. It was a discouraging beginning, but the fault was now understood, and the first true lunar attempt was next.
Images
Images from open archives · credit shown per image