There was a software issue that caused the CAPSTONE satellite to lose contact with Earth. NASA said on July 5 that it was having communications issues with the satellite. The satellite performed its first targeting maneuver after re-establishing communications.
The moon is being tested out as a possible location for a space station. At times the satellite can be close to the moon while being further away than other satellites. It's advantage is that it doesn't require a lot of energy to keep an object in the air. The purpose of the test is to see if this is a good location for the station.
The satellite has to make a series of maneuvers in order to get into this position. Thursday was the first day of these maneuvers.
The first trajectory correction maneuver was completed by NASA's CAPSTONE. An update was written by NASA. This is the first in a series of burns over the next few months to make sure CAPSTONE's transfer to the Moon is done correctly. The maneuver took about 11 minutes to complete and changed the spacecraft's speed by 45 miles per hour. The next trajectory correction maneuver is scheduled for July 9.
The transfer the satellite is following is different from the usual Hohmann transfer, in which an object leaves the Earth and goes to the moon. CAPSTONE is using a transfer that takes into account the effects of the Earth, the moon, and the sun. The method uses very little fuel but takes a long time to reach the moon.
The asteroid is expected to arrive at its near rectilinear halo around the moon in November.
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