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Updated November 1st, 2022 at 19:01 IST

CAPSTONE rescued from safe mode before entering Moon's orbit on Nov 13, NASA confirms

NASA revealed that the CAPSTONE spacecraft has recovered from safe mode and is now on track to enter the Moon's orbit on November 13.

Reported by: Harsh Vardhan
NASA
Image: NASA | Image:self
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NASA, on November 1, informed that it has rescued the CAPSTONE (Cis-lunar Autonomous Positioning Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) spacecraft from safe mode. The CubeSat which suffered multiple glitches on its way to the Moon is now on track to enter the Non-rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) on November 13. This was after the mission teams successfully completed a trajectory correction maneuver on October 27.

"CAPSTONE is no longer in safe mode following an issue in early September that caused the spacecraft to spin. The team identified the most likely cause as a valve-related issue in one of the spacecraft’s eight thrusters", NASA wrote in its update. "The mission team will design future maneuvers to work around the affected valve, including the two remaining trajectory correction maneuvers scheduled before CAPSTONE’s arrival to orbit at the Moon."

In its previous update, the agency said that the problem occurred due to a partially-opened thruster valve which produced thrust and wildly propelled the spacecraft every time the propulsion system was pressurised. The CAPSTONE CubeSat, which weighs around 25 kg has been designed and built by Terran Orbital and is owned by Advanced Space on behalf of NASA. Operations, on the other hand, are jointly performed by teams at Advanced Space and Terran Orbital.

CAPSTONE mission objective

The spacecraft was launched by Rocket Lab from New Zealand on June 28 to test the NRHO, which is a gravitationally stable orbit and has been chosen to install the Lunar Gateway, a space station around the Moon. This Gateway will act as a habitat, and research center and will assist astronauts during Moon landings. While in this orbit, the spacecraft will come as close as 1,609 km from one lunar pole whereas it will be 70,000 km from the other.

CAPSTONE will test the feasibility and stability of the orbit and how efficient the NRHO is. In addition to this, it will also test a navigation system developed by Advanced Space to measure positions without relying on ground stations.

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Published November 1st, 2022 at 19:01 IST

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