NASA has lost contact with the satellite for 11 hours which is the first step in returning to the moon

On June 28, NASA launched a nanosatellite from New Zealand a little bigger than a microwave oven into space, as part of the first step of a historic mission to send humans back to the moon, the Artemis I. But moments of uncertainty were experienced sometime later after losing contact with the ship.

However, finally NASA’s CAPSTONE satellite called home. The spacecraft worth about $ 30 million went silent on Monday, shortly after breaking free from its orbit around Earth; NASA said communication was lost after 11 hours of this event.

The engineers happily announced this on Wednesday they reopened a communication line with CAPSTONE, who is on his way to the Moon. The device has the task of analyzing a unique orbit around the lunar globe, which will host a space station called “Lunar Gateway”.

The orbital path, known as a nearly straight halo orbit, has the shape of an elongated egg with one end of the orbit passing close to the moon and the other far away from it.

NASA reported on Tuesday that it had “communication problems”. Your spokesperson, Sarah Frazierwrote in a statement: “After the successful deployment and commissioning of the spacecraft on July 4, the spacecraft [CAPSTONE] had communication problems while in contact with the Deep space network “.

But now, it looks like the ship is healthy and constantly headed for the moon.

Rocket Lab founder, Peter Beck, said it was difficult to express his excitement after CAPSTONE was released on Monday. “It will probably take some time to sink. It was a project that took us two, two and a half years and it is incredibly difficult to perform“, he has declared.

It will take another four months for CAPSTONE to reach the Moon, as it sails with minimal power. The mission is to help NASA prepare for its Lunar Gateway, a space station several modules orbiting the Moonthat the US space agency hopes to place in a single orbit.

The launch is scheduled for 2024 and will serve as a “staging area” for the human landing on the moon for the first time in 50 years and potentially as a starting point for missions to Mars. Beck said the advantage of the new orbit is that it minimizes fuel consumption and allows the satellite, or a space station, to remain in constant contact with Earth.

The path of the orbit is at a precise point of balance in the gravity of the Earth and the Moon, which means that less energy is consumed. CAPSTONE will orbit this area around the Moon for at least six months to understand the characteristics of the orbit. After, NASA will deliberately crash it to the lunar surface.

The space agency said: “Will validate the power and propulsion requirements to maintain its orbit as predicted by NASA models, reducing logistical uncertainties “.

The first parts of Moon Portal they won’t be launched until November 2024, giving NASA plenty of time to evaluate CAPSTONE’s results. Described as a “vital component” of NASA’s Artemis program, the Lunar Gateway will be a small space station that will orbit the moon, acting as a “multipurpose outpost”.

THE ORBIT OF CAPSTONE it will pass within 1,600 kilometers of the Moon at the nearest point, before catapulting 70,000 kilometers at the furthest point. CAPSTONE would repeatedly draw a constant oval around the Moon as the spacecraft moves from the lunar North Pole to the Lunar South Pole.

“CAPSTONE will be precisely controlled and maintained and will greatly benefit from the near-stable physics of its near-rectilinear orbit. The burns will be programmed to give the ship an extra boost, as it naturally increases momentum; this requires far less fuel than a more circular orbit would require, “she said. Elwood Agasid, Deputy Director of NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology Program.