Key Dates:
- 10.18.62: Launch (16:59 UT)
- 10.21.62: End of Mission
- Status: In Heliocentric Orbit
Scientific Intruments:
- imaging system
- gamma-ray spectrometer
- single-axis seismometer
- surface-scanning pulse radio experiment
Ranger 5 Information:
Each Ranger spacecraft was designed to make a "kazikaze" dive straight into the Moon and send close-range images back to Earth right up until they crashed into the surface. The cameras onboard each spacecraft were designed to provide different exposure times, fields of view, lenses, and scan rates, and they were arranged in two separate self-contained chains, each with its own power supply, timer, and transmitter.
Lunar 5 also malfunctioned, this time switching on battery power far too early. It operated for only eight hours before dying, causing it to miss the Moon by about 724 km (450 miles). Ranger 5 also ended up in heliocentric (sun-centered) orbit where mission controllers were able to track it to a distance of 1.3 million km (808,000) miles. Scientists did get back about four hours of data from a gamma ray experiment aboard the spacecraft.
