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By: HISTORY.com Editors

1964

Ranger 7 photographs moon

HISTORY.com Editors

Published: February 09, 2010Last Updated: May 27, 2025

Ranger 7, an unmanned U.S. lunar probe, takes the first close-up images of the moon—4,308 in total—before it impacts with the lunar surface northwest of the Sea of Clouds. The images were 1,000 times as clear as anything ever seen through earth-bound telescopes.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had attempted a similar mission earlier in the year—Ranger 6—but the probe’s cameras had failed as it descended to the lunar surface. Ranger 7, launched from Earth on July 28, successfully activated its cameras 17 minutes, or 1,300 miles, before impact and began beaming the images back to NASA’s receiving station in California. The pictures showed that the lunar surface was not excessively dusty or otherwise treacherous to a potential spacecraft landing, thus lending encouragement to the NASA plan to send astronauts to the moon.

In July 1969, two Americans walked on the moon in the first Apollo Program lunar landing mission.

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Citation Information

Article Title: Ranger 7 photographs moon
Author: HISTORY.com Editors
Website Name: History
URL: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/july-31/ranger-7-photographs-moon

Date Accessed: October 21, 2026
Publisher: A&E Television Networks
Last Updated: May 27, 2025
Original Published Date: February 09, 2010