NASA / Rocket Lab - CAPSTONE Mission patch.
July 4, 2022
NASA’s CAPSTONE CubeSat on a ballistic lunar transfer orbit
Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft successfully fired its HyperCurie engine on 4 July 2022, at 06:56 UTC, sending NASA’s CAPSTONE CubeSat on a ballistic lunar transfer orbit.
NASA’s CAPSTONE on the way to the Moon
The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) CubeSat will be the first satellite to operate in a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit around the Moon.
Animation above: The CAPSTONE mission orbiting the Moon. Rocket Lab’s Photon satellite bus deliver CAPSTONE into a trajectory toward the Moon. Animation Credits: Illustration by NASA/Daniel Rutter.
Related article:
CAPSTONE Launches to Test New Orbit for NASA’s Artemis Moon Missions
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/06/capstone-launches-to-test-new-orbit-for.html
Related links:
Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE): https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/small_spacecraft/capstone/ and
https://www.nasa.gov/capstone/
Gateway: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/moon-to-mars/lunar-gateway
Artemis program: https://www.nasa.gov/artemisprogram
Earth's Moon: http://www.nasa.gov/moon
Rocket Lab: https://www.rocketlabusa.com/
Image, Animation (mentioned), Video, Text, Credits: NASA/Rocket Lab/SciNews/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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