Editing Ranger program (section)

==Ranger spacecraft==
[[File:Program Ranger organization.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Program Ranger Organization Chart]]

Each of the block III Ranger spacecraft had six cameras on board. The cameras were fundamentally the same with differences in exposure times, fields of view, lenses, and scan rates. The camera system was divided into two channels, P (partial) and F (full). Each channel was self-contained with separate power supplies, timers, and transmitters. The F-channel had two cameras: the wide-angle A-camera and the narrow angle B-camera. The P-channel had four cameras: P1 and P2 (narrow angle) and P3 and P4 (wide angle). The final F-channel image was taken between 2.5 and 5 seconds before impact (altitude about {{convert|5|km}}) and the last P-channel image 0.2 to 0.4 seconds before impact (altitude about {{convert|600|m}}). The images provided better resolution than was available from Earth-based views by a factor of 1000. The design and construction of the cameras was led by [[Leonard R Malling]].<ref>
{{cite report
 | author = [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] - Malling, L. R. 
 | title = Planetary photography- Television camera for a geological survey of the planet Mars
 | publisher = NASA-JPL
 | year = 1962
 | url = https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19660002908
 | format = PDF
 }}</ref>
<ref>
{{cite report
 | author = [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] - Malling, L. R. 
 | title = Space astronomy and the slow-scan vidicon system
 | publisher = NASA-JPL
 | year = 1963
 | url = https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19640004932
 | format = PDF
 }}</ref>
<ref>
{{cite report
 | author = [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] - Malling, L. R. 
 | title = Digital television camera control system Patent
 | publisher = NASA-JPL
 | year = 1966
 | url = https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19700032491
 | format = PDF
 }}</ref>
<ref>
{{cite report
 | author = [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] - Malling, L. R. 
 | title = Reduced bandwidth video communication system utilizing sampling techniques Patent
 | publisher = NASA-JPL
 | year = 1968
 | url = https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19710013550
 | format = PDF
 }}</ref>
The Ranger program manager for the first six spacecraft was [[James Burke (space engineer)|James D. Burke]].<ref name="ranger2">{{cite web|title=LUNAR IMPACT: A History of Project Ranger, Part I. The Original Ranger, Chapter Two - ORGANIZING THE CAMPAIGN|url=http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4210/pages/Ch_2.htm#Ch2_R42|work=NASA History|publisher=NASA|access-date=14 July 2016}}</ref>

The camera preamplifiers of the Ranger program used [[Nuvistor]]s.<ref>Nuvistor Valves by Stef Niewiadomski. <!--http://www.r-type.org/articles/art-150.htm--></ref>