Feb. 2, 1964 - America’s Ranger 6 spacecraft scored a spectacular bullseye hit on the moon today but failed to send back TV pictures of the lunar surface — the main goal. The failure spelled a disheartening setback for U.S scientists who had hoped to make a close observation of the moon’s terrain as a landing surface before sending astronauts there in an Apollo moonship by the end of this decade. A battery of six television cameras failed to turn on during the Ranger’s 10-minute dive to destruction at the climax of its 230,187-mile journey.
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