Launch Date/Time: 1965-02-17 at 17:05:00 UTC
On-orbit dry mass: 361.80 kg
Nominal Power Output: 200.00 W
There were two camera channels which had independent power distribution networks so that the greatest reliability and probability of obtaining highest quality video pictures would be afforded. The first channel had two full-scan cameras, one wide angle (25 degree field of view and 25-millimeter focal length) designated the A-camera and one narrow angle (8.4-degree field of view and 76-millimeter focal length) B-camera. These cameras utilized an active image area of 11 square millimeters that contained 1,150 lines and was scanned in 2.5 seconds. Scan and erase cycles were designed to act alternately, resulting in intervals of 5 seconds between consecutive pictures on a particular camera. The other channel had four partial-scan (p) cameras, two narrow angle and two wide angle. The image a area of these four cameras was 2.8 square millimeters, contained 300 lines, and was scanned in 0.2 seconds. The TV system allowed for camera fields of view, which ranged from 25 degrees to 2.1 degrees, to overlap and produce a 'nesting' sequence of pictures. The video transmissions were recorded on both kinescope film recorders and magnetic tape recorders. A cathode-ray tube reconstructed the original image, which was then photographed on 35-millimeter film.
Both full-scan and partial-scan camera systems operated during the final 23 minutes of flight, 0934 UT to 0957 UT, on February 20, 1965. Resolution was achieved to 1.5 meters (5 feet). The experiment returned 6,597 partial-scan and 540 full-scan pictures giving the desired broad coverage of the lunar surface.
Space History Ranger to the Moon
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