solar cells on the two panels, a 57 kg silver-zinc battery, and
smaller batteries on some of the experiments. Attitude control was
provided by a solid-state timing controller, Sun and Earth sensors,
and pitch and roll jets. The temperature was controlled passively
by gold plating, white paint, and polished aluminum surfaces. 
The Ranger 1 spacecraft was designed to go into an Earth parking
orbit and then into a 60,000 x 1,100,000 km Earth orbit to test
systems and strategies for future lunar missions. Ranger 1 was
launched into the Earth parking orbit as planned, but the Agena B
failed to restart to put it into the higher trajectory, so when Ranger
1 separated from the Agena stage it went into a low Earth orbit and
began tumbling. The satellite re-entered Earth's atmosphere on 30
August 1961. Ranger 1 was partially successful, much of the
primary objective of flight testing the equipment was accomplished
but little scientific data was returned. 

Total research, development, launch, and support costs for the
Ranger series of spacecraft (Rangers 1 through 9) was
approximately $170 million. 


Launch Information:
Launch Date/Time: 1961-08-23 at 10:02:00 UTC
Launch Site/Country: Cape Canaveral, United States
Vehicle: Atlas-Agena B
On-orbit dry mass: 306.2 kg

Orbital Information:
Orbit: Orbiter
Central Body: Earth
Epoch start date/time: 1961.235:10:02:00 (23 Aug)