1964: RANGER 7. Cape Kennedy launched the spacecraft on its flight to the moon. On 31 July, the spacecraft took and relayed 4,316 high quality closeup pictures of the lunar surface to earth. It then crashed on the moon near the Sea of Clouds. This NASA image was taken 8 nm above the surface of the Moon. It was also the first completely successful flight of the Ranger program. Launched on July 28, 1964, Ranger 7 was designed to achieve a lunar-impact trajectory and to transmit high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minutes of flight up to impact. (NASA Images, PD)
