On Aug. 23, 1961, NASA launched the Ranger 1 robotic spacecraft on a precursor mission to test new technologies for later moon missions.
NASA’s Ranger program had the ultimate goal of photographing and mapping the lunar surface. Ranger 1 was launched with the primary mission of testing the performance of the spacecraft’s functions and parts. It also studied particles and fields around the Earth in space.
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While it was designed to enter a high orbit 37,000 by 684,000 miles (60,000 by 1,100,000 km), it never made it beyond low-Earth orbit.
A malfunction with the rocket caused the engine to shut down prematurely, which sent it tumbling around the Earth. On Aug. 30, it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and was incinerated.
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