Mission
The spacecraft was launched into a low Earth parking orbit, but an inoperative roll gyro prevented Agena restart. The spacecraft could not be put into its planned deep space trajectory, resulting in Ranger 2 being stranded in low Earth orbit upon separation from the Agena stage. The orbit decayed and the spacecraft reentered Earth's atmosphere on November 20, 1961.
Read more about this topic: Ranger 2
Famous quotes containing the word mission:
“Perhaps the mission of those who love mankind is to make people laugh at the truth, to make truth laugh, because the only truth lies in learning to free ourselves from insane passion for the truth.”
—Umberto Eco (b. 1932)
“We never can tell how our lives may work to the account of the general good, and we are not wise enough to know if we have fulfilled our mission or not.”
—Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (1842–1911)
“The mission of men there seems to be, like so many busy demons, to drive the forest all out of the country, from every solitary beaver swamp and mountain-side, as soon as possible.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)