On March 21, 1965, NASA launched the Ranger 9 spacecraft on a mission to crash into a lunar crater.
Ranger 9 was the last flight of NASA's Ranger Program. The spacecraft would study the crater Alphonsus by crashing directly into it and taking pictures along the way. After launching on an Atlas-Agena rocket, Ranger 9 spent nearly three days making its way over to the moon. During the last 20 minutes of its flight, it took around 6,000 high-quality images of the moon. It then plowed into the Alphonsus crater at a speed of nearly 9,000 miles per hour. Images and videos from Ranger 9's descent were broadcast on live television to millions of viewers in the United States.
Ranger 9 was the last flight of NASA's Ranger Program. The spacecraft would study the crater Alphonsus by crashing directly into it and taking pictures along the way. After launching on an Atlas-Agena rocket, Ranger 9 spent nearly three days making its way over to the moon. During the last 20 minutes of its flight, it took around 6,000 high-quality images of the moon. It then plowed into the Alphonsus crater at a speed of nearly 9,000 miles per hour. Images and videos from Ranger 9's descent were broadcast on live television to millions of viewers in the United States.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day, in space.
00:03On March 21st, 1965, NASA launched the Ranger 9 spacecraft on a mission to crash into a lunar crater.
00:10Ranger 9 was the last flight of NASA's Ranger program.
00:13The spacecraft would study the crater Alphonsus by crashing directly into it and taking pictures along the way.
00:18After launching on an Atlas Agena rocket, Ranger 9 spent nearly three days making its way over to the moon.
00:24During the last 20 minutes of its flight, it took around 6,000 high-quality images of the moon.
00:29It then plowed into the Alphonsus crater at a speed of nearly 9,000 miles per hour.
00:34Images and videos from Ranger 9's descent were broadcasted live on television to millions of viewers in the United States.
00:40And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:43♪♪♪