ticketsMember | Make a donation

Alphonsus Peak

1965
Not on view
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.
The Ranger program, nicknamed "Shoot and Hope," was the first of three crewless reconnaissance programs deployed by NASA to photograph the moon in preparation for the crewed Apollo landings. The probes carried television cameras programmed to record and beam back still images of the lunar surface during the final moments of flight before crashing into the moon. Of the nine Rangers launched between 1961 and 1965, only the last three succeeded, but the images they returned were one thousand times more detailed than those obtained with the best earthbound telescopes.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Alphonsus Peak
  • Artist: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
  • Date: 1965
  • Medium: Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions: Plate: 16 11/16 × 15 9/16 in. (42.4 × 39.6 cm)
    Sheet: 17 × 16 in. (43.2 × 40.6 cm)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Randy and Yulia G. Liebermann Lunar and Planetary Exploration Collection
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs