Apr 17

Space Rocket History #59 – Ranger 8-9, and Intelsat I

Posted on April 17, 2014 by spac9750

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.

Ranger Block 3 Design

Ranger 8 Launch

First Ranger 8 Pic

Sea of Tranquillity

By Dave.

Rilles on Alphonus Crater

Intelsat I (Early Bird)

Delta-D with Intelsat I

Mar 06

Space Rocket History #53 – Gemini 2 – Part 1

Posted on March 6, 2014 by spac9750

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS

The bright outlook that was prevalent in April turned dark in the late summer of 1964 when a series of natural disasters struck the Cape. First lightning, then hurricanes, damaged the Gemini 2 launch vehicle to delay its flight long past the scheduled time. Even if the weather had been perfect, McDonnell’s difficulties in getting Spacecraft 2 ready to fly might have compromised the schedule on its own…