Ranger 1 spacecraft launch, Atlas-Agena rocket, 1961. Ranger 1 was a spacecraft launched by NASA as part of a program to study the Moon. The launch wa

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Ranger 1 spacecraft launch, Atlas-Agena rocket, 1961. Ranger 1 was a spacecraft launched by NASA as part of a program to study the Moon. The launch was carried out with an Atlas LV-3 and Agena-B rocket combination. Ranger 1 was a prototype designed to test systems to be used on later spacecraft. Due to a malfunction, it only reached low-Earth orbit. After seven days, it burnt up on re-entry into the atmosphere on 30 August 1961. Photographed on 23 August 1961, at Launch Complex 12 (LC-12) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA.

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Size: 3137px × 3921px
Photo credit: © NASA/Kennedy Space Center/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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