Ranger 5

Spacecraft· NASA / JPLlost

Ranger 5 — a Ranger lunar probe crippled by a power failure hours after launch (18 October 1962). Dead and unresponsive, it missed the Moon by about 725 km and passed into orbit around the Sun.

Open in 3D viewSee Ranger 5 in the live, interactive 3D map

Key facts

Distance from Sun

1.01 AU

Status

Lost

Launched

1962

Mission & specifications

Mission

Operator: NASA / JPL
Launched: October 18, 1962
Status: Lost

Trajectory

Distance from the Sun: 1.01 AU
Distance from Earth: 6,183,244 km
Distance from Venus: 0.631 AU

Mission

Ranger 5 extended the run of misfortune to five. Launched on 18 October 1962, it lost electrical power a few hours into the flight — a short circuit left it running down its batteries with no way to recharge. Dead within hours, it coasted past the Moon, missing by about 725 kilometres, and drifted off into solar orbit. Five Ranger flights had now flown and not one had returned a usable picture of the Moon. The programme was redesigned and its management overhauled before the next attempt — the pressure to finally deliver was immense.

Images

The Ranger spacecraft — Ranger 5 lost power and missed the Moon — NASA / JPL (public domain) · Wikimedia Commons

Images from open archives · credit shown per image