Ranger 5

NSSDC ID: 1962-055A

Description:
Ranger 5 was designed to transmit pictures of the lunar surface to
Earth stations during a period of 10 minutes of flight prior to
impacting on the Moon, to rough-land a seismometer capsule on
the Moon, to collect gamma-ray data in flight, to study radar re-
flectivity of the lunar surface, and to continue testing of the Ranger
program for development of lunar and interplanetary spacecraft.
Due to an unknown malfunction, the spacecraft ran out of power
and ceased operation. It passed within 725 km of the Moon. 

Ranger 5 was a Block II Ranger spacecraft similar to Rangers 3
and 4. The basic vehicle was 3.1 m high and consisted of a
lunar capsule covered with a balsawood impact-limiter, 65 cm
in diameter, a mono-propellant mid-course motor, a 5080-pound
thrust retrorocket, and a gold- and chrome-plated hexagonal
base 1.5 m in diameter. A large high-gain dish antenna was
attached to the base. Two wing-like solar panels (5.2 m across)
were attached to the base and deployed early in the flight. Power
was generated by 8680 solar cells contained in the solar panels
which charged a 11.5 kg 1000 W-hour capacity AgZn launching
and backup battery. Spacecraft control was provided by a solid-
state digital computer and sequencer and an earth-controlled
command system. Attitude control was provided by six Sun and
one Earth sensor, gyroscopes, and pitch and roll cold nitrogen
gas jets. The telemetry system