RANGER 4 (launched on April 23, 1962): set of 7 photos - Lot 48

RANGER 4 (launched on April 23, 1962): set of 7 photos -2 photos of technicians preparing Ranger 4 before launch on April 23, 1962 (captioned photos, nos. 314-5490B and 314-5490A). -3 drawings showing the flight plan for the Ranger 4 probe and its various maneuvers (captioned photos, nos. P 1747, P 1756, P 1757) -1 drawing of the Ranger 4 spacecraft and its Atlas-Agena rocket (captioned photo No. P-1887) -1 drawing of the spacecraft’s detailed anatomy (uncaptioned photo) The Ranger program was designed to take high-resolution photographs of the Moon and gather information on the composition of the lunar surface. Nine Ranger probes were launched aboard an Atlas-Agena B rocket between August 23, 1961, and March 24, 1965. They were produced by JPL, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (California). After several failures with Ranger 1 through Ranger 6, the program became a success starting with Ranger 7. All photos are vintage black-and-white silver gelatin prints, measuring 20.5 x 25.5 cm, sourced either from JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) or from NASA.