It's not yet known what caused the microwave-size CAPSTONE to drop out of contact Monday, shortly"> Flight controllers regain contact with moon-bound CAPSTONE orbiter - Interesting Topic
daily devotionals online logo Friday, March 29, 2024 2:42 PM GMT+1
       Reset Password        Click here to sign up.
 
daily devotionals online
Home
       our daily bread
Our Daily Bread
       the good seed
The Good Seed
       the LORD is near
The LORD is near
       andrew wommack
Andrew Wommack
       billy graham
Billy Graham
 
christian topics
Christian
       general topics
General
       interesting topics
Interesting
 

Flight controllers regain contact with moon-bound CAPSTONE orbiter
Posted by Temmy
Thu, July 07, 2022 1:40pm


Flight controllers regain contact with moon-bound CAPSTONE orbiter
An artist's impression of the CAPSTONE spacecraft in orbit around the moon. | NASA

Two days after losing contact with the moon-bound CAPSTONE orbiter, company flight controllers were able to recontact the 55-pound probe, reporting Wednesday "the spacecraft is happy and healthy."

It's not yet known what caused the microwave-size CAPSTONE to drop out of contact Monday, shortly after separation from its upper stage booster, or how engineers managed to re-establish communications. But Advanced Space, owner and operator of the $20 million satellite, promised "more details to come."

Built by Terran Orbital for Advanced Space, CAPSTONE was launched from New Zealand on June 28 by a Rocketlab Electron booster to help NASA confirm details of an unusual lunar orbit planned for the agency's Artemis moon program.

Rocketlab's Photon upper stage released CAPSTONE on Monday after a series of thruster firings to pump up the spacecraft's velocity and put it on a four-month, 800,000-mile trajectory to a point where it can slip into the planned elliptical "halo" orbit around the moon in mid-November.

Flight controllers then began activating and checking out the spacecraft, completing one communications session and part of a second when an issue of some sort interrupted the flow of telemetry. A planned trajectory correction maneuver was delayed while engineers scrambled to figure out what went wrong and re-establish communications.

Those efforts apparently paid off Wednesday, but no details were immediately available.

CAPSTONE is bound for a "near rectilinear halo orbit," or NRHO, around the moon's poles that will be used by NASA's Gateway space station, a small outpost being built to serve as a testbed and staging base for Artemis moon landing missions.

Spacecraft in such highly elliptical, gravitationally stable orbits are able to minimize fuel usage, remain in direct line of sight with Earth for continuous communications and can reach a variety of landing targets. While not capable of landing, CAPSTONE will be the first spacecraft to put such an orbit to the test.





 

More From Trending Chat Room Archives


Lee Aaker
Lee Aaker
Posted on Thu, April 15, 2021 8:00am
Child star Lee Aaker of Rin Tin Tin' fame dies alone and unclaimed' at 77: report



Child actor Lee Aaker died "alone and unclaimed" on April 1, according to child actor advocate and Shokus Internet Radio personality Paul Petersen. He was 77.

"Saying Goodbye...More



 



For enquiries, notifications and ad placement send mail to [email protected]
Copyright 2012 - 2024 All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy || Terms & Conditions