NASA Finally Reestablishes Contact With New Spacecraft to the Moon

NASA has finally reestablished communications with its Moon-bound spacecraft after momentarily losing contact with the station this Tuesday.

NASA Finally Restores Contact With Spacecraft After Brief Interruption

NASA has restored contact with its small spacecraft bound to the Moon, called the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE). This news came after a report from mission controllers that they lost communications on the Deep Space Network.

Attached to Rocket Lab's Photon upper stage, CAPSTONE orbited the Earth while being moved into position for its trip to the Moon. The CAPSTONE CubeSat was launched on its ballistic lunar transfer trajectory to the Moon over the course of the last six days, with the assistance of seven major engine firings that raised the orbit's highest point to about 810,000 miles from Earth. The Advanced Space and Terran Orbital teams are currently piloting the spaceship.

While the space agency has already declared contact with CAPSTONE and confirmed it had been reestablished, the reason for the communication loss and the method utilized to restore it are still undisclosed by NASA as of the time of this writing.

About the CAPSTONE Project

The CAPSTONE satellite started its expedition by orbiting the Earth at a distance of around 177,000 miles, or 285,000 kilometers, according to reports. This was intended to give it time to prepare and understand any anomaly before it fully engages its track on the trajectory correction maneuver. However, because it required solid and dependable contact with the space agency, the maneuver to exit the Earth's orbit and head to the Moon, considered the first in a planned sequence of orbit adjustments, was not immediately finished. NASA spokesman Sarah Frazier previously informed Space.com via email that, if necessary, "the mission has enough fuel to delay the initial post-separation trajectory correction maneuver for several days."

But overall, the purpose of the CAPSTONE expedition is for the spacecraft to test an oval lunar orbit. The objective of the space agency is to be able to install someday a small space station called Gateway there. The Gateway would serve as a staging area for astronauts before they finally descend to the surface of the Moon.

CAPSTONE is likewise intended to get to the Moon using its own propulsion and the Sun's gravity. By November 13, the four-month mission will be in a rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon. The CubeSat's need for fuel to orbit the Moon is anticipated to be considerably reduced by this way of exploiting gravity. The CAPSTONE operations team started the project early to prepare for the spacecraft's check-out and commissioning. The status of the spacecraft, its location, velocity, and the initial trajectory correction maneuver could all be accurately determined during this preparation phase, but it was not complete enough to prevent any incident such as communication loss.

Nevertheless, the project has returned to operations smoothly. Through NASA's Eyes on the Solar System interactive real-time 3D data visualization, users will soon be able to track CAPSTONE's trip in real-time while virtually traveling with the CubeSat and viewing our solar system. The propulsion system for CAPSTONE was also turned on by the controllers, who also readied it for a burn that would alter the satellite's course and allow it to reach orbit around the Moon in November of this year, the company said.