Ranger 3
Ranger 3 was NASA’s first Block II lunar-impact attempt, carrying a television camera, gamma-ray detector, and seismometer capsule for the Moon. Atlas guidance failure and an incorrect trajectory caused the spacecraft to miss the Moon by about 23,000 miles on January 28, 1962; it later entered heliocentric orbit after measuring interplanetary gamma-ray flux.
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Identity
- Aliases
- Ranger 3Ranger IIIRanger 3 Lunar Impact Probe
- Name
- Ranger 3
- Status
- failed
Details
- Astronauts
- -
- Description
- Ranger 3 was NASA’s first Block II lunar-impact attempt, carrying a television camera, gamma-ray detector, and seismometer capsule for the Moon. Atlas guidance failure and an incorrect trajectory caused the spacecraft to miss the Moon by about 23,000 miles on January 28, 1962; it later entered heliocentric orbit after measuring interplanetary gamma-ray flux.
- Destination
- Failed lunar impact; missed the Moon by approximately 36,793 km and entered heliocentric orbit
- End Date
- 1962-01-28
- Programs
- Start Date
- 1962-01-26
- Vehicle Families
Links
- Official Url
- https://science.nasa.gov/mission/ranger-3/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 14, 2026 at 17:09:38 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 21, 2026 at 13:41:51 UTC
Other
- Affiliations
- -
- Space Stations
- -
- Vehicles