Thursday, July 31, 2025

“This is JPL’s day, and a truly historic occasion – the entire mission was a text book operation.”
– Homer Newell –

Sixty-one years ago today, following 13 consecutive failures, NASA’s Ranger 7 executed its mission flawlessly – crashing into the moon at 2.62km/s while transmitting over 4,300 lunar images that proved American perseverance could overcome Soviet space dominance. The mission’s rigorous engineering standards, born from painful lessons, became the foundation for Apollo’s triumph. Sometimes the greatest victories emerge not from avoiding failure, but from learning to fail forward with uncompromising standards.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. Be strong. Lead well.

Chad