Posted on April 17, 2014
In total Ranger 9 transmitted 5,814 good contrast photographs during the final 19 minutes of flight. The last image taken before impact had a resolution of 0.3 meters per pixel. The spacecraft encountered the lunar surface after 64.5 hours of flight. Impact occurred at 14:08:19 UT right on target in the Alphonsus crater. Impact velocity was 2.67 km/s. The spacecraft performance was excellent.
Sea of Tranquillity on the Moon from 11 km, 5 seconds before impact
Rilles on the Floor of Alphonus Crater
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Ranger 9
INTELSAT_I_(Early_Bird)
First picture of the Moon taken by Ranger 8
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Tagged:Agena, Alphonus, Altair, Andover, Apollo 11, Atlas, Block 3, Cape Canaveral, Cape Kennedy, Charles Cole, Communications Satellite Corporation, Comsat, Delta, Delta D, Delta C, Early Bird, Exploration, Gemini 6, History, Huges, Intelsat, Jpl, Moon, Nasa, Ranger 8, Ranger 9, Soviet, Space, Telemetry, Thor