Earth's Moon - Ranger 8
First picture of the Moon taken by Ranger 8
First full-frame image of the Moon taken by the Ranger 8 camera A
from a distance of 2,573 km. The image was taken on 20 Feb. 1965
at 09:34 UT with the spacecraft at an altitude of 2510 km. The
central reticle is at 10.65 degrees south latitude, 22.4 degrees
west longitude, in the Mare Cognitum area of the Moon. North is
up, and the picture extends 1200 km across, from about 5 N to 30 S
latitude, and from 5 W to 45 W longitude. The craters Campanus
and Mercator are visible at the bottom center. Gassandi crater
(101 km diameter) is the bright circle near the edge of the frame
at 8:00. The Apollo 12 landing site is near top center and Apollo
14 slightly to the right of that.
(Ranger 8, A001)
Larger image:
High resolution tiff file (1.0 Mb)
Location & Time Information
Date/Time (UT): 1965-02-20 T 09:34:32
Distance/Range (km): 2573.72
Central Latitude/Longitude (deg): -10.65, 22.42 W
Orbit(s): Impact - Hard Landing
Imaging Information
Area or Feature Type: crater, mare, landing site
Instrument: Vidicon Camera A
Instrument Resolution (pixels): 1150 x 1150
Instrument Field of View (deg): 25.
Filter: None
Illumination Incidence Angle (deg): 29.1
Phase Angle (deg): 47.3
Instrument Look Direction: N/A
Surface Emission Angle (deg): 20.1
Ordering Information
CD-ROM Volume: N/A
NASA Image ID number: Ranger 8 A001
Other Image ID number: N/A
NSSDC Data Set ID (Photo): 65-010A-01A
NSSDC Data Set ID (CD): N/A
Other ID: N/A
Updated 23 April 2003, DRW.