Lunar Space Station Comes Close With NASA’s CAPSTONE

November 14, 2022 By Monica Green

(Image Credit Google)

NASA has announced that the CAPSTONE CubeSat has successfully completed its first orbit insertion maneuver, despite some anxious moments on the approach to the moon. The accomplishment moves NASA one step closer to the launch of its Gateway lunar space station, which will act as a launching pad for astronaut moon landings as well as a base for crewed missions. Huge news! Bill Nelson, the head of NASA, tweeted on Sunday. "NASA's CAPSTONE reached the moon and successfully finished its first orbit insertion maneuver! Over the coming days, the spacecraft will test the orbit intended for the NASA Gateway lunar colony as it continues to fine-tune its orbit.

Big news! @NASA's #CAPSTONE arrived to its orbit at the Moon and completed its first orbit insertion maneuver! The spacecraft will continue to refine its orbit over the next few days, and will test the orbit planned for the @NASA_Gateway lunar outpost. https://t.co/oy7Rhl2oPf
— Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) November 14, 2022

The Gateway, a facility that will be crucial to the space agency's Artemis program, will be placed in the projected orbit for the first time by CAPSTONE, which stands for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment. On Sunday at 7:39 p.m. ET, the CAPSTONE mission operations team verified that the satellite fired its thrusters to launch it into orbit. The satellite is now in a near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO), which is the same orbit that the Gateway outpost will use. According to NASA, CAPSTONE will adjust its orbit with two more cleanup maneuvers over the course of the following five days. The crew will then examine the data to see if CAPSTONE is still on course for the NRHO. The work will support NASA's planning for Gateway's deployment over the following few years. Lunar Space Station Comes Close With NASA’s CAPSTONE

Lunar Space Station Comes Close With NASA’s CAPSTONE

The good news comes the same week that NASA plans to fly its brand-new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for the first time in order to launch the Artemis I mission to the moon. Unmanned Orion spacecraft will be propelled by the SLS rocket toward our nearest planetary neighbor, where it will make a flyby before returning to Earth. The same route will be traveled by Artemis II with a crew if the test mission is successful. Then, utilizing the Gateway station as a stopover site during a historic mission that might happen as early as 2025, Artemis III will attempt to send the first woman and the first person of color to the lunar surface. Looking farther into the future, NASA intends to construct a facility on the moon's surface where astronauts will be able to live and work for lengthy periods of time, with the Gateway serving as a crucial connection between the base and Earth.

By Monica Green

I am specialised in latest tech and tech discoveries.

Lunar Space Station Comes Close With NASA’s CAPSTONE

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