NASA wants to use a new approach to landing astronauts on the moon in the future.
The test satellite is going to be sent from New Zealand. The first satellite to travel around the moon will send back vital information for at least six months if it succeeds.
The new circle is called a near-recti linear halo. The stretched-out egg shape has one end near the moon and the other far away.
It's possible to stretch a rubber band from your thumb. The moon and rubber band are represented by your thumb.
It will have equilibrium, that's what I think. Is that Poise? NASA stated on its website that there was balance. "This pathfinding CubeSat will be able to kick back and rest in a sweet spot in space, where the pull of gravity from Earth and the Moon interact to allow for a nearly-stable orbits"
NASA plans to put a space station called Gateway into the orbital path so that astronauts can descend to the moon's surface as part of its Artemis program.
NASA is teaming up with two companies. The rocket that will carry the satellite will be owned and operated by Colorado-based Advanced Space.
The total cost of the mission for NASA was $32 million.
It will take more than four months to get the satellite into the correct position in the sky.
The small rocket will be launched from New Zealand. The second stage, called Photon, will separate after nine minutes. During the next five days, Photon's engines will fire frequently to raise its altitude.
After six days after the launch, Photon's engines will fire, allowing it to leave Earth's path and head for the moon.
The satellite won't use a lot of energy as it cruises toward the moon over four months, with a few planned trajectory course changes along the way.
Morgan Bailey said it was the most ambitious and complex mission it had done so far and came after more than two years of work with NASA. She said that it will be the first time that the HyperCurie engine will be used in a test.
"Lots of hard problems to solve along the way, but we've solved them one by one and made it to launch day," Bailey said.
A space station should be able to maintain continuous communication with Earth because it will avoid being overshadowed by the moon.
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