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Atlas Agena B | Ranger 3

Ranger 3

Launch Successful

Launch Details

Date: 26 Jan 1962, 08:30 pm UTC

Rocket: Atlas Agena B (Atlas)

Provider: United States Air Force

Mission

Type: Lunar Exploration

Orbit: Heliocentric N/A

Pad: Launch Complex 12, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Mission Description

Ranger 3 was a spacecraft designed to transmit pictures of the lunar surface during the last 10 minutes prior to impacting the Moon. A malfunction in the booster guidance system resulted in excessive spacecraft speed. Ranger 3 missed the Moon by 36,800 km and is now in a heliocentric orbit.