Build Ranger Project

This summer, volunteers have been meeting at the California Science Center several days a week to restore a Ranger spacecraft using parts from various unflown engineering models. The students, engineers, retirees and space enthusiasts (ages 18-80), are led by Bob Conover, the Assembly Manager on the Ranger Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory 50 years ago. Together they are carefully sorting, cleaning, painting and assembling a replica of Ranger 7 that will be displayed in the new Samuel Oschin Air & Space Center. The team is also documenting the project; check out #buildranger on Twitter, student Kat Heiden’s website with history and interviews and photographer Curt Mason’s beautiful images.