First Picture of the Moon Taken by Ranger 8

First full-frame image of the Moon taken by the Ranger 8 camera A from a distance of 2,573 km. The image was taken on 20 Feb. 1965 at 09:34 UT with the spacecraft at an altitude of 2510 km. The central reticle is at 10.65 degrees south latitude, 22.4 degrees west longitude, in the Mare Cognitum area of the Moon. North is up, and the picture extends 1200 km across, from about 5 N to 30 S latitude, and from 5 W to 45 W longitude. The craters Campanus and Mercator are visible at the bottom center. Gassandi crater (101 km diameter) is the bright circle near the edge of the frame at 8:00. The Apollo 12 landing site is near top center and Apollo 14 slightly to the right of that. (Ranger 8, A001)