NASA CAPSTONE Mission: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has lost communication with Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) spacecraft that is headed towards the moon to test out an unusual or lopsided lunar orbit.It was successfully launched on June 28 from New Zealand and had further begun with its solo journey to the moon on July 4 after leaving the Earth’s orbit. Nonetheless, the agency engineers seem confident in re-establishing connections and communicate with over $30 million spacecraft.
According to NASA’s Artemis blog, the spacecraft successfully deployed solar arrays, was stabilized, and began charging its onboard battery. It further said that “As a result of the communications issues, CAPSTONE’s first trajectory correction maneuver – originally scheduled for the morning of July 5 – has been delayed.
This maneuver is the first in a series that are designed to make small corrections to increase the accuracy of the transfer orbit to the Moon.” The spacecraft launched on June 28 had already spent a week in Earth’s orbit before losing contact on its onward journey to the moon’s orbit. NASA also revealed that “The spacecraft team currently is working to understand the cause and re-establish contact. The team has good trajectory data for the spacecraft based on the first full and second partial ground station pass with the Deep Space Network. If needed, the mission has enough fuel to delay the initial post separation trajectory correction maneuver for several days.” It is an extremely paramount mission through which the international space agency also wishes to set up its Gateway or an outpost that could facilitate a point from which the astronauts could descend to the lunar surface.
As a sigh of relief amidst the rising tensions with communication issues, CAPSTONE is said to be carrying just enough fuel to navigate its maneuvers until the contact is re-established. If everything goes well, then the CAPSTONE is set to spend the next four months trying to make it into the moon’s orbit and carry forward the mission. This pathfinder is scheduled to arrive in the lunar orbit by November 13. NASA also intends to make a moonbase for its future mission to Mars as well.
