CAPSTONE in orbit near the Moon: Once launched from Rocket Labs Photon satellite bus, CAPSTONE will use its propulsion system to travel for roughly 3 months before getting in into orbit around the Moon. Credit: Illustration by NASA/Daniel Rutter
The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE), a small CubeSat, about the size of a microwave and weighing just 55 pounds (25 kg), has actually left low-Earth orbit and began its solo journey to the Moon.
Following its launch on June 28, CAPSTONE orbited Earth connected to Rocket Labs Photon upper phase, which navigated CAPSTONE into position for its trip to the Moon. Photons engines fired 7 times over the past six days at crucial moments to raise the orbits greatest point to around 810,000 miles (1,300,000 km) from Earth before launching the CAPSTONE CubeSat on its ballistic lunar transfer trajectory to the Moon. The spacecraft is now being zipped the teams at Advanced Space and Terran Orbital.
CAPSTONE interacts with Earth by means of NASAs Deep Space Network en route to the Moon.
Now, CAPSTONE will utilize its own propulsion and the Suns gravity to navigate the remainder of the way to the Moon, a four-month journey that will have CAPSTONE inserting into its near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) around the Moon on November 13, 2022. The gravity-driven track will considerably minimize the amount of fuel the CubeSat requires to get to its target orbit around the Moon.
CAPSTONEs orbit likewise establishes a place that is a perfect staging location for missions to the Moon and beyond. The orbit will bring CAPSTONE within 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of one lunar pole on its near pass and 43,500 miles (70,000 km) from the other pole at its peak every seven days, needing less propulsion capability for spacecraft flying to and from the Moons surface area than other circular orbits.
In the coming days, you can follow CAPSTONEs journey live utilizing NASAs Eyes on the Solar System interactive real-time 3D data visualization, riding along practically with the CubeSat with a simulated view of our planetary system.