From The Archives: Ranger 9 Photographs - Mountains On The Moon

Crater Alphonsus dominates the right half of this Ranger 9 photograph on the cover of the April 5, 1965 issue of the magazine.  

Its floor marked by high crater density and an intricate pattern of ridges and rills, in sharp contrast to relatively smooth Mare Nubium, upper left. Alpetragius is near lower left, with broad central mountain, and Davy A is the crater in top left corner. 

Eight "black halo" craters distinguished by dark material around their edges are seen near Alphonsus crater wall. 

The photo was taken by full scan camera A at an altitude of 258 mi. at 2 min. 50 sec. before impact. Area covered measures 121 x 109 mi. North is at top of photo. 

See more photos of Ranger 9 on pages 84-89. 

Read the full issue of the magazine dated April 5, 1965. 

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