Ranger 1

Ranger 1

Ranger 1 Satellite in preparation for use at the Parade of Progress Show at the Public Hall, Cleveland, Ohio, August 1964
Mission type	Technology
Operator	NASA
Harvard designation	1961 Phi 1
COSPAR ID	1961-021A
SATCAT no.	173
Mission duration	7 days
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Launch mass	306.2 kilograms (675 lb)
Power	150.0 W
Start of mission
Launch date	August 23, 1961, 10:04:10 (1961-08-23UTC10:04:10Z) UTC
Rocket	Atlas LV-3 Agena-B
Launch site	Cape Canaveral LC-12
End of mission
Decay date	30 August 1961 (1961-08-31)
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth (High Earth planned)
Semi-major axis	6,690.3 kilometres (4,157.2 mi)
Eccentricity	0.019939
Perigee altitude	179 kilometres (111 mi)
Apogee altitude	446 kilometres (277 mi)
Inclination	32.9 degrees
Period	91.1 minutes
Revolution no.	110
Instruments Lyman-Alpha Telescope Magnetometer Electrostatic Analyzer 2 Charged Particles Cosmic ray Cosmic Dust X-ray Scintillantion Counters
Ranger ← None Ranger 2 →

Ranger 1 was a prototype spacecraft launched as part of the Ranger program of uncrewed space missions. Its primary mission was to test the performance of those functions and parts necessary for carrying out subsequent lunar and planetary missions; a secondary objective was to study the nature of particles and fields in the space environment. Due to a launch vehicle malfunction, the spacecraft could reach only Low Earth orbit, rather than the high Earth orbit that had been planned, and was only able to complete part of its mission.^[1]