Ranger 2

Ranger 2
	Ranger 2
Mission type	Technology
Operator	NASA
Harvard designation	1961 Alpha Theta 1
COSPAR ID	1961-032A
SATCAT no.	206
Mission duration	2 days
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Launch mass	304 kilograms (670 lb)
Power	150 W
Start of mission
Launch date	18 November 1961, 08:09:00 UTC
Rocket	Atlas LV-3 Agena-B
Launch site	Cape Canaveral LC-12
End of mission
Decay date	20 November 1961
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth; (High Earth planned)
Semi-major axis	6,574.2 kilometres (4,085.0 mi)
Perigee altitude	150 kilometres (93 mi)
Apogee altitude	242 kilometres (150 mi)
Inclination	33.3 degrees
Period	~89 minutes
Instruments
	Lyman-Alpha Telescope
	Rubidium Vapor Magnetometer
	Electrostatic Analyzer
	Medium Energy Particle Detectors
	Cosmic ray Ion Chamber
	Cosmic Dust Detectors
	X-ray Scintillantion Counters
	Triple Coincident Telescope
	Ranger ← Ranger 1 Ranger 3 →

Ranger 2 was a flight test of the Ranger spacecraft system of the NASA Ranger program designed for future lunar and interplanetary missions. Ranger 2 was designed to test various systems for future exploration and to conduct scientific observations of cosmic rays, magnetic fields, radiation, dust particles, and a possible hydrogen gas "tail" trailing the Earth.^[1]