Launch Success
Liftoff Time (GMT)
21:37:00
Sunday March 21, 1965
Watch Replay
Official Livestream
Ranger 9 was a Lunar probe, launched in 1965 by NASA. It was designed to achieve a lunar impact trajectory and to transmit high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minutes of flight up to impact. The spacecraft carried six television vidicon cameras—two wide-angle (channel F, cameras A and B) and four narrow-angle (channel P)—to accomplish these objectives. The cameras were arranged in two separate chains, or channels, each self-contained with separate power supplies, timers, and transmitters so as to afford the greatest reliability and probability of obtaining high-quality television pictures. These images were broadcast live on television to millions of viewers across the United States.
Low Earth Orbit
1 Payload
367 kilograms
52nd
Mission
4th
Mission of 1965
27th
Orbital launch attempt