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The sign accompanying the Atlas-Agena. It reads

Aiming at the Heavens

With the newfound power and guidance combination of the Atlas-Agena system, we now had the ability to successfully aim unmanned exploratory missions at other worlds. Teams of scientists who could explore the heavens with telescopes until now, set about building <b>Robot Scouts</b> to extend our curious eyes and ears into space.

In January 1962, the Atlas-Agena launched Ranger 3 and sent it racing toward the Moon. The plan was to capture and send home pictures of the Moon until impact with the lunar surface. But Ranger 3 missed the target and headed for the Sun. There were eight missions in the Ranger program. They sent back more than 11,000 detailed pictures of the Lunar surface, including close-ups of the Sea of Tranquility where Apollo 11 would touch down in 1969.

ROCKET DATA: Atlas-Agena
Height: 27.7 meters (91 feet)
Diameter: 3 meters (10 feet)
Diameter AGENA: 1.5 meters (5 feet)
ATLAS propellants: Liquid Oxygen and RD-1[sic]