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:
“The mission of the United States is one of benevolent assimilation.”
—William McKinley (1843–1901)
“Not in vain is Ireland pouring itself all over the earth. Divine Providence has a mission for her children to fulfill; though a mission unrecognized by political economists. There is ever a moral balance preserved in the universe, like the vibrations of the pendulum. The Irish, with their glowing hearts and reverent credulity, are needed in this cold age of intellect and skepticism.”
—Lydia M. Child (1802–1880)
“When you’re dealing with monkeys, you’ve got to expect some wrenches.”
—Alvah Bessie, Ranald MacDougall, and Lester Cole. Raoul Walsh. Captain Nelson, Objective Burma, giving a subaltern a mission (1945)