Roll One:



Exterior Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of University of Arizona. Ranger co-experimentar Ewen Whittaker examines roll of 35mm negs from Ranger 7--each roll containing close to 1000 pictures. He chooses best pictures and they then go to darkroom for enlarging and printing. Men washing negatives and working on prints.



Roll Two:



Dr. Gerard Kuiper with glasses, chief Ranger scientist, examines photographic atlases with Whittaker, Various shots of Ranger publications. With large scale enlargement of Ranger lunar photo, standing on chair next to books, men examine impact area of flight and then move into laboratory where clay scale model of lunar surface is in preparation.



Roll Three:



They compare model with photo of area and then Kuiper takes small, tiny column of clay which is scaled to the height of a man, and places it on model. He points to it with ballpoint pen.




Initials


Final portion of Roll Three (after black-pencilled title sheet) shows first day choice target for upcoming Ranger 9 flight, the lunar crater of Alphonsus. Whittaker is shown pointing this out on large map of moon and apparently outlining the area with ballpoint pen. This is the first day's target for the flight in the event that it is fired Sunday, the 21st; for other days, there are other targets during the five-day possible launch "window", or available firing period. Close-ups of Alphonsus crater on large scale photo. He points to Alphonsus with pen.

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: As the countdown for Ranger 9, the nation's final lunar photographic mission, nears, scientists at Tucson's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona are in full swing processing previous Ranger films. The Ranger chief scientist, Dr. Gerard Kuiper (rhymes with wiper) heads the Arizona Lunar Laboratory, and here the work of preparing the historic pictures for publication for use by astronauts and observatories is under way. The film story shows the process of preparing the pictures and even making an accurate scale model of portions of the moon from the Ranger 7 pictures. Most of the work in progress involves the results of the Ranger 7 flight of last July, during which its six camera was sent back more than 4300 moon pictures. The work, as is shown on the film, was then put together in special high-resolution photographic atlases (costing 100 dollars a copy), which were sent to eminent world scientists, including Russian astronomers who similarly gave us their lunar pictures. On Ranger 7 (as well as Ranger 8 and also Ranger 9) six cameras are used. One is a wide angle camera producing the "A" series, another a telephoto-3" producing the "B" series, and then four smaller ones called the "P" series. Each series is being published, "A", "B", and "P". We show the "A" and "B" atlases, and the work on "P" pictures--each of which will have about 200 pictures.

These books of pictures, mounted on linen-backed paper, are strictly limited editions--of 150 copies. One can shudder when you try to imagine how much it cost totally to get these pictures, the missile, fuel, etc. I think it might be well to call these among the world's most unique--and expensive--photographs.

Also shown is the prime target for the upcoming Ranger 9 flight, the lunar crater of Alphonsus.