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The spacecraft was launched into a low earth parking orbit, but an
inoperative roll gyro prevented Agena restart. The spacecraft could
not be put into its planned deep-space trajectory, resulting in
Ranger 2 being stranded in low earth orbit upon separation from
the Agena stage. The orbit decayed and the spacecraft reentered
Earth's atmosphere on 20 November 1961. 


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: 1961-11-18 at 08:09:00 UTC
Launch Site/Country: Cape Canaveral, United States
Vehicle: Atlas-Agena B
On-orbit dry mass: 304 kg

Orbital Information:
Orbit: Orbiter
Central Body: Earth
Epoch Start Date/Time: 1961.322:00:00:00 (18 Nov)
Epoch End Date/Time: 1961.324:00:00:00 (20 Nov)

Discipline(s)
Planetary Science
Solar Physics
Space Physics

Sponsoring Agencies/Countries
NASA-Office of Space Science Applications/United States
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