Smooth Launch
Date: 28 Jul 1964

Ranger 7 leaves Florida on a thee-day flight to Mare Cognitum on the Moon.


The mission was the first major success of the Ranger series. The spacecraft smashed into the Moon on target, sending back more than 4,000 images as it hurtled toward the lunar surface.


The images - the first taken of the Moon by an American spacecraft - are about 1,000 times better than those taken from Earth. Ranger images helped scientists determine safe landing zones for the Apollo astronauts.


Image Credit: NASA

Credit: NASA