Ranger 8 revealed that Mare Tranquillitatis closely resembled Ranger 7's Mare Nubium site. Moore's proposals notwithstanding, the spacecraft was not targeted to image a crater blasted in the moon's surface by a previous Ranger. Ranger 8 (launched 17 February 1965) crashed within 15 miles of its target in Mare Tranquillitatis on 20 February 1965, after beaming 7,137 images to Earth. ![]() would provide valuable experience for the interpretation of data transmitted from another planet." Moore expressed the hope that "more and more probes will be launched to the planets Venus and Mars," adding that observing Earth "as a planet. Ranger might also be used to observe Earth in support of planetary missions. In addition to providing valuable scientific data, Ranger images of specific sites would aid interpretation of Lunar Orbiter and orbital Apollo images. Sites of interest might include heavily cratered lunar highlands terrain and the interiors of large craters - places too rugged for safe Apollo landings. Ranger missions to sites of interest both inside and outside this "Apollo Zone" would return images four times better than any expected from Lunar Orbiter, he estimated. Moore noted that the Lunar Orbiters would focus on the lunar Nearside equatorial region in which most piloted Apollo landings were meant to occur. Ranger 6 spacecraft undergoes final checks.
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