Earth's Moon - Ranger 8

Mare Tranquillitatis from 20 km, 9 seconds before impact

Earth's Moon
Four Ranger 8 Camera P images taken on 20 February 1965 from a distance of 20 km about 9 seconds before impact on the Moon. The images are ordered (clockwise from upper left) P3, P4, P2, P1. The images were taken in a part of the Sea of Tranquillity about 60 km north of the Apollo 11 landing site. This area looked smooth in Earth-based telescopes, but as the images show it is dotted with craters. The P3 and P4 images are about 2.4 km across, showing objects as small as 15 m across. The P1 and P2 images are 800 m across and show 5 m features. North is up in all images. (Ranger 8, p010)
Larger image: 438K

High resolution tiff file (1.0M)

Location & Time Information
Date/Time (UT): 1965-02-20 T 09:57:28
Distance/Range (km): 20
Central Latitude/Longitude (deg): +02.63, 024.44 E
Orbit(s): Impact - Hard Landing

Imaging Information
Area or Feature Type: crater
Instrument: Vidicon Camera P
Instrument Resolution (pixels): 300 x 300
Instrument Field of View (deg): 2.1 (P1, P2) 6.3 (P3, P4)
Filter: None
Illumination Incidence Angle (deg): 75.0
Phase Angle (deg): 39.1
Instrument Look Direction: N/A
Surface Emission Angle (deg): 36.4

Ordering Information
CD-ROM Volume: N/A
NASA Image ID number: Ranger 8
Other Image ID number: N/A
NSSDC Data Set ID (Photo): 65-010A-01A
NSSDC Data Set ID (CD): N/A
Other ID:

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[NASA Logo] Authors/Curators:

Dave Williams, dave.williams@nasa.gov, (301) 286-1258
Code 690.1, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

Jay Friedlander, jay.s.friedlander@nasa.gov, (301) 286-7172
Code 612.4, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

NASA Official: Dr. David R. Williams, David.R.Williams@nasa.gov
Last updated: 24 September 2015