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The last 8 photographs taken by the first robotic spacecraft to send close-up pictures of the Moon, including the moment of impact on Mare Cognitum, July 31, 1964

Ranger VII

Name: The last 8 photographs taken by the first robotic spacecraft to send close-up pictures of the Moon, including the moment of impact on Mare Cognitum, July 31, 1964
Brand: Ranger VII
Price: 1300.00 GBP
Availability: SoldOut

Price Realised GBP 1,625

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GBP 1,500 - GBP 2,500

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The last 8 photographs taken by the first robotic spacecraft to send close-up pictures of the Moon, including the moment of impact on Mare Cognitum, July 31, 1964

Ranger VII

Price Realised GBP 1,625

Details Lot Essay Related Articles More from

Taken by the F-A camera on board the Ranger VII robotic spacecraft

The last 8 photographs taken by the crashlander Ranger VII, including the moment of impact on Mare Cognitum

Ranger VII, July 31, 1964

Eight vintage gelatin silver prints on fiber-based paper, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA HQ captions on the versos
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.
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James Hyslop

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Lot Essay

Ranger VII photographed its way down to target in a lunar plain, named Mare Cognitum (the Known Sea) following the success of the mission, south of the Crater Copernicus, at latitude 10.35°S and longitude 20.58°W.
It sent more than 4,300 pictures from six cameras to waiting scientists, engineers and astronomers which “were delighted at the clarity of the images which confirmed that there were lunar areas topographically suitable for manned landing sites” (Cortright, p. 46).

This final series of 8 photographs were transmitted during the last 38 seconds before Ranger VII’s impact on the lunar surface, including the last one showing the moment of impact on Marge Cognitum.

The spacecraft was destroyed while transmitting, resulting in the receiver noise pattern (last photograph).

The pictures were taken by the F-A camera with a 25mm, f/1 lens from the altitudes of 55, 48.5, 41.1, 33.6, 26.2, 18.7, 11.2 and 3.7 miles. The last photograph was taken from an altitude of 3.7 miles some 2.3 seconds before impact. This image has a resolution of .5 meters, with the smallest craters shown approximately 30 feet in diameter and 10 feet deep. The width of the area shown decreases from about 29 miles (first photograph) to 1.84 miles (last photograph).

“The Ranger VII lunar lander was the first true success in the United States’ early quest to explore the Moon and heralded a new era of exploration that saw dramatically more mission successes than failures. [...]
The images, which showed the lunar surface in stunning detail, were the harbinger of future human exploration of the Moon” (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/ranger-7/).