After a day of zero contact, it seems that the story between CAPSTONE and NASA had a happy ending. Of course, the mission is not over, but after yesterday’s report that the agency has lost all contact with the lunar probe, it seems that they finally managed to reunite with her.
NASA not only hoped for this, but also knew the trajectory of CAPSTONE in advance. For this, they already knew which part of the sky to aim for with their Deep Space Network antennas to find it. NASA engineers have now succeeded in restoring the link to the satellite. gadget.
The situation, while hopeful, still had its chances to go wrong. That’s why Sarah Frazier, NASA spokeswoman, said: Space that, if necessary, the mission can be delayed for a few days since the lunar orbiter had enough fuel.
CAPSTONE adventures and NASA plans
CAPSTONE was launched from a site prepared by Rocket Lab in New Zealand. As soon as he managed to separate from the Elektron rocket and leave the Earth’s orbit, NASA lost contact with the spacecraft. Luckily, the story came to a happy ending.
Nonetheless, the first maneuver to correct the ship’s trajectory was delayed. It was originally scheduled for this on July 5, although for obvious reasons it could not be completed. The good news is that this is a minor fix, so it shouldn’t change your mission plans too much.
Of course, CAPSTONE still has a few more months to go. The satellite is expected to reach the moon in about four months., after which it will begin its orbital missions to test the stability of the lunar orbit. This is NASA’s first stop on the Artemis and Lunar Gateway missions, with which they plan to build a lunar space station over the next few years.
From launch to low earth orbit, Capstone spent almost a week in orbit around the planet. Thus, he managed to add the necessary momentum to head towards the moon. Now that he’s gone and NASA has successfully contacted him, he can only be trusted until November 13 this year, when he is expected to reach his destination.
Source: Hiper Textual
