The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experience, or CAPSTONE, is a CubeSat that will fly in a unique lunar orbit destined for NASA’s future Artemis lunar mail gateway. Its six-month mission will help usher in a new era of space exploration. Credit: NASA Ames Research Center
On Friday 7 October, members of the CAPSTONE team successfully carried out an operation to stop the spacecraft’s rotation. This removes a significant obstacle in returning the spacecraft to normal operation.
After the planned directional correction on 8 September, CAPSTONE HAS PROBLEMS This puts the spaceship in safe mode. Immediately found that the The spaceship turns This exceeds the ability of the reaction wheel on the table to control and resist. According to the spacecraft data, the most likely cause is a valve problem in one of the spacecraft’s eight thrusters. A partially open valve means that the faulty impeller generates thrust whenever the propulsion system is under pressure. After an extensive review of the telemetry data and simulations, the mission team carried out several tests on the spacecraft to formulate a plan to stop the spacecraft’s rotation despite these problems.
The recall order was carried out on Friday morning. The maneuver appeared to be successful, according to CAPSTONE’s preliminary telemetry and observational data, which showed the spacecraft stopped spinning and regained full control of its three-axis position. This means that the CAPSTONE position can be controlled without unplanned rotations. CAPSTONE has now turned its solar panel towards the sun to maximize energy production. He also modified the antenna pointer to provide better data communication with the ground.
The risk of this anomaly and the recovery process is significant and the team is working intensively and collaboratively to mitigate this risk. Over the next few days, the team will continue to monitor the condition of the spacecraft and make necessary changes to procedures to account for and mitigate the effects of a partially open thrust valve. To reduce the risk of future maneuvers, the mission team will also try to design possible solutions to this problem with the valves.
CAPSTONE remains on track to enter its target coronal orbit near the Moon on November 13.
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