NASA’s Capstone Spacecraft Lost Contact, Here’s the Chronology

KOMPAS.com – United States Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had lost contact with spaceship Capstone launched as part of a return mission to the moon.

Plane without you Owned and operated by Advanced Space LLC, it was launched from Launch Complex 1, New Zealand on 28 June. The launch was carried out using Rocket Lab USA Inc.

After six days, Capstone separated from the top-stage rocket and began its four-month journey to orbit the Moon.

“The support team is trying to determine the cause (of the loss of contact) and reestablish communication,” NASA spokeswoman Sarah Frazier said in a statement. Bloomberg, Wednesday (6/7/2022).

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For information, Capstone’s main goal is to test the orbit that will be used by Gateway, a small NASA space station that will be a staging area for trips to the lunar surface.

It includes a docking port for visiting spacecraft and a place for crew to live and work.

Gateway is part of NASA’s Artemis Program, which plans to return astronauts to the lunar surface by early 2025, as well as renew human exploration on the moon and toward Mars exploration.

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Chronology of lost contact Capstone

Launching the NASA website, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (Capstone) experienced communication problems after its launch on July 4, 2022.

Capstone made initial contact with the DSN station in Madrid, Spain, followed by partial contact with the Goldstone station in California. From these contacts, mission operators can determine Capstone’s approximate position and speed in space.

As a result of communication problems, Capstone’s first trajectory correction maneuver, originally scheduled for 5 July, was delayed.

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In the released update NASAthe Capstone mission team has re-established contact with the spacecraft via NASA’s space network.

Data received from Capstone showed the spacecraft was in good health and operating safely during the loss of contact.

The return of initial contact after the communication problem occurred on July 6 at 09.26 Eastern time. The signal confirmed Capstone was in the expected location, then procedures for recovering and receiving telemetry data from the spacecraft began at 10.18 a.m. Eastern time.

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The team is also preparing to perform Capstone’s first trajectory correction maneuver, which will more precisely target Capstone’s transfer orbit to the Moon on July 7, 2022 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time. The plan, Capstone will arrive in lunar orbit on November 13 next.

The team is currently working to learn the root cause of the loss of contact, previously finding that the problem was triggered during operational testing of the communication system.

The team will continue to evaluate data leading to communication issues and monitor Capstone status.

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