RANGER 6 (launched on January 30, 1964): set of 6 photos - Lot 50

RANGER 6 (launched on January 30, 1964): set of 6 photos -1 close-up photo of the RCA television system carried aboard Ranger 6 (photo captioned No. 151-452B). -1 photo of Ranger 6 ready to undergo vibration testing (photo captioned No. 314-5987AC). -1 photo showing the internal structure of Ranger 6. Uncaptioned photo. -1 drawing of Ranger 6 flying over the Moon at low altitude (photo captioned No. P-2914). -1 drawing of Ranger 6 showing the coverage area of the probe’s three tracking and communications stations: Johannesburg (South Africa), Woomera (Australia), Goldstone (California). Captioned photo No. P-2909. -1 drawing of Ranger 6 showing the probe’s trajectory limitations for the images to be taken (areas to avoid). Uncaptioned photo. The Ranger program was designed to take precise images 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.