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NASA’s plan to “restart” human exploration of the moon will soon be launched by a microwave-sized spacecraft.
The Cislunar autonomous positioning system Technological operations and navigation cubes, or CAPITAL STONE in short, is slated to launch in October from New Zealand aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket and its upper stage / Lunar Photon spacecraft.
Tipping the scales at a modest 55 pounds (25 kilograms), CAPSTONE isn’t light when it comes to its missions.
Related: Rocket Lab and its Electron booster (photos)
Orbital stability
The main objective of CAPSTONE is to test and verify the calculated orbital stability of an almost rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) around the moon. It’s the same scripted orbit for NASA Lunar gateway, the small planned space station that will orbit the moon to allow astronauts access to the lunar surface.
The gateway is touted as a vital part of NASA Artemis program, which aims to establish a sustainable and long-term human presence on and around the moon by the end of the 2020s.
For its part, CAPSTONE is designed to help reduce risks to future spacecraft by validating navigation technologies and verifying the dynamics of this halo-shaped orbit.
After a three-month journey to its target destination, CAPSTONE will orbit this area around the moon for at least six months to understand the characteristics of the orbit. The NRHO offers a breathtaking view of Earth in addition to coverage of the lunar south pole. CAPSTONE’s seven-day Earth orbit will bring the probe within 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of one lunar pole on its close passage and bring it within 43,500 miles (70,000 km) of the other pole at its furthest point.
On the right track
“The CAPSTONE spacecraft has been fully integrated and is currently undergoing integration testing and evaluation,” said Bradley Cheetham, CEO and President of Advanced Space of Westminster, Colorado, the company that developed and will operate the spacecraft. (NASA describes CAPSTONE as “an innovative collaboration“between the space agency and private industry.)
“Integration and testing plans are currently on track to be ready for launch in October,” Cheetham told Space.com, highlighting the progress the mission has made so far, especially given the unexpected challenges of a global pandemic.
Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems of Irvine, Calif., Built the cubesat and Stellar Exploration, Inc. of San Luis Obispo, Calif., provides the CAPSTONE propulsion system.
“We have done a tremendous amount of work in terms of developing and demonstrating the capabilities required to effectively and efficiently operate a mission to the moon,” said Cheetham.
“Only two entities have ever operated a spacecraft in a three-body Earth-Moon orbit – NASA and the Chinese National Space Agency,” he added. “We are preparing to be the first business entity and only the third organization to operate in these valuable orbits.”
Another key CAPSTONE task, Cheetham said, is testing a navigation system that evaluates its position against that of NASA. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which has been studying the Moon since 2009. This demonstration of spacecraft navigation services may allow future spacecraft to determine their location relative to the Moon without relying exclusively on tracking from Earth.
Lunar chronology: Humanity’s explorations of the moon
Commercial partnerships
Christopher Baker, head of NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program, said that while he didn’t realize it as quickly as the space agency had envisioned before the Covid-19 pandemic, the CAPSTONE mission will provide valuable data and experience in the nearly rectilinear halo orbit destined for the gateway.
“The [CAPSTONE] The mission will also demonstrate new low-energy trajectories to the Moon, peer-to-peer navigation and other future mission capabilities, ”said Baker.
The technologies developed for CAPSTONE, he added, are already having an impact. For example, the Stellar Exploration propulsion system for CAPSTONE was used successfully on a commercial spacecraft, and two interplanetary photons from Rocket Lab were selected for the NASA project. ESCAPADE Mars mission.
“Ultimately, we see the CAPSTONE mission as a forefront of low-cost, risk-tolerant business partnerships for lunar exploration and beyond,” said Baker.
Change of launch sites
Originally, CAPSTONE was to fly to the moon from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Murielle Baker, senior communications advisor for Rocket Lab, told Space.com that CAPSTONE can meet the demands of its mission regardless of the launch location.
“We originally planned to launch from Launch Complex 2, but we moved the launch location to New Zealand due to additional work needed to certify NASA software for a flight termination system for launches. from Virginia, ”Baker said.
Rocket Lab sees great value in deep space exploration.
“The parallels between Antarctic exploration and lunar exploration are eerily similar,” Baker said. “At the turn of the century, there was a race to reach the South Pole. Then no one looked back for 50 years – just like the moon in the 60s. Then we started building bases in Antarctica. . Antarctica has been opened up by advanced technology – motor vehicles, air transport and radio. And the science made there has a monumental impact on how we understand things like climate change and our impact on the planet. We are now approaching that stage with our exploration of the moon and beyond. “
The moon is pretty much the same, said Murielle Baker. “With every advancement in spaceships, robots and miniaturization, we can accomplish so much with unmanned missions like CAPSTONE. This saves time and money, exploring destinations like Venus and Mars much more accessible. “
Leonard David is the author of the book “Moon Rush: The New Space Race”, published by National Geographic in May 2019. A longtime writer for Space.com, David has reported on the space industry for more than five decades. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook.
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