NASA has lost contact with CAPSTONE, a tiny satellite. As part of NASA's plan to get humans back on the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years, CAPSTONE is being sent to the moon.
The small satellite stopped communicating with engineers on July 4th after it deployed from an electron rocket bus. A NASA spokesman told Space.com that the team has trajectory information for CAPSTONE and that they are trying to reestablish contact with the cubesat.
The mission has enough fuel to delay the initial post-separation trajectory correction maneuver for several days, according to the spokesman.
On a path to the Moon, Cavendish spent six days building up speed in-orbit on a rocket lab electron booster. A test for NASA's Artemis mission is planned for November 13th, when CAPSTONE will enter a near rectilinear halo around the Moon. The lunar gateway will be a floating base for visitors to the moon, complete with living quarters and a laboratory.
The Artemis 1 mission will begin on August 23rd with the deployment of an ion module that will circle the moon and provide data about how the trip might affect the human body. Four astronauts will leave for the moon after that. NASA wants to put humans on the moon again.
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