 JPL technicians thought that they could still partially salvage the mission by firing the midcourse correction engine to ensure impact with the Moon, but they had to do it quickly before power ran out.Ground controllers sent commands to unfurl the high-gain antenna and align the probe for the midcourse burn, but during this time more electrical shorts apparently occurred because there was a momentary dropout from the telemetry transmitter.The midcourse engine was fired, but Ranger 5 exhausted its batteries halfway through the burn.