Capstone is a precursor to future Artemis missions that will allow the US to send astronauts to Earth’s satellite again
The American space agency (NASA) announced that its communication with the tiny Capstone spacecraft, the size of a microwave oven, which had been launched from New Zealand on June 28 bound for the Moon, was lost for an unknown reason. NASA engineers hope to fix the problem and restore contact.
Weighing just 25 kilograms and costing almost $33 million, the craft is to be put into a highly elliptical orbit around the moon, which has never been tried before and where NASA wants to place the under-construction Gateway lunar space station. The Capstone it is a precursor to future Artemis missions that will allow the US to send astronauts to Earth’s satellite again.
Liftoff! #CAPSTONE launched aboard a @RocketLab Electron rocket to pave the way for future @NASAArtemis missions to the Moon and beyond.
What’s next for the microwave oven-sized satellite? Check out https://t.co/dMVnvEQcfC for updates. pic.twitter.com/VVoAOjSYbD
— NASA (@NASA) June 28, 2022
Capstone’s journey to the Moon – if all goes well – is designed to be complex, so it’s expected to take about four months.
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