After a day of zero contact, it seems that the story between CAPSTONE and NASA has had a happy ending. Of course, the mission isn’t over, but after telling you yesterday that the agency had lost all contact with the lunar probe, it seems that they have finally managed to reconnect with her.
Not only was NASA hopeful about it, but they already knew CAPSTONE’s trajectory beforehand. For this, they already knew which part of the sky to aim for with their Deep Space Network antennas to find it. Now, NASA engineers have managed to reopen a line of communication to the satellite, according to gadget.
The situation, while hopeful, still had its chances of going wrong. This is why Sarah Frazier, a NASA spokeswoman, told Space that, if necessary, the mission could be delayed a few days since the lunar orbiter had enough fuel.
The adventures of CAPSTONE and the plans of NASA
CAPSTONE was launched from the site prepared by Rocket Lab, in New Zealand. Once it managed to separate from the Electron rocket and leave Earth’s orbit, NASA lost contact with the spacecraft. Fortunately, the story has come to a good conclusion.
Nevertheless, the ship’s first trajectory correction maneuver has been delayed. Originally, it had been scheduled for this July 5, although for obvious reasons it could not be executed. 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 several months of travel ahead of him. The satellite is expected to reach the Moon in about four months, at which point it will proceed to execute its orbiter missions to verify the stability of the lunar orbit. This is NASA’s first stop on its Artemis and Lunar Gateway missions, with which they plan to establish a lunar space station over the next several years.
From launch to Earth orbit, CAPSTONE spent almost a week orbiting the planet. Thus, he managed to add the necessary momentum to head for the Moon. Now that it has left and that NASA has managed to establish contact with it successfully, it only remains to trust until November 13 of this year, at which time it is expected to reach its destination.