Pioneer 10, the world’s first outer-planetary probe, was launched
from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a mission to Jupiter, the solar
system’s largest planet.

MIKE GRACIA

Richard Benjamin Speck
(December 6, 1941 – December 5, 1991)

Ranger 7, an unmanned U.S. lunar probe, took the first close-up
images of the moon—4,308 in total—before it impacts with the
lunar surface northwest of the Sea of Clouds. The images were
1,000 times as clear as anything ever seen through earth-bound telescopes.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had attempted a similar mission earlier in the year—Ranger 6—but
the probe’s cameras had failed as it descended to the lunar
surface.

Ranger 7, launched from Earth on July 28, successfully activated
its cameras 17 minutes, or 1,300 miles, before impact and began
beaming the images back to NASA’s receiving station in
California.

ED DANAHUE

The American space probe Ranger 7 transmitted pictures of the
moon’s surface on this day in 1964. It was the first space probe 
of the United States to successfully transmit close images of
the lunar surface back to Earth. It was also the first completely
successful flight of the Ranger program.

BRIAN THOMAS

It was on this day in 1959.

(NOTE) Holly’s mother and his widow both learned he had died from
the news. Ever since, police departments have made it a policy not
to release a victim’s name until their family has been notified.
 

A 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza (Model 35), similar to the aircraft that crashed.

Gull Avenue, Crash site is located west of intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue., Clear Lake, IA.

Former KGW radio D.J. Red Robinson (left) and Buddy Holly.