Atlas Agena B | Ranger 4

Ranger 4 was a spacecraft designed to softly impact the lunar surface. Its solar panels were never extended and its sun and earth acquisition system was not initiated due to a failure of a timer in its central computer. It impacted the far side of the Moon on April 26 after 64 hours of flight.

Mission Details

  • Launch date: April 23, 1962 at 08:50 PM UTC
  • Launch vehicle: Atlas Agena B
  • Operator: United States Air Force
  • Launch site: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
  • Mission type: Lunar Exploration