5.07.2022
Rocket Lab Moon Mission for NASA a Success
Rocket Lab successfully deploys CAPSTONE satellite to lunar transfer orbit for NASA, charting a new path to the Moon. CAPSTONE is testing a never-before-flown orbit of the Moon and is the first mission of NASA’s Artemis program
Rocket Lab Lunar Photon Spacecraft with CAPSTONE Satellite Integrated (Photo: Business Wire)
LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a leading launch and space systems company, today announced it has successfully deployed a pathfinding satellite for NASA, setting it on a course to the Moon. The deployment marks the successful completion of Rocket Lab’s first deep space mission, paving the way for the Company’s upcoming interplanetary missions to Mars and Venus.
“The CAPSTONE mission marks the beginning of humanity’s return to the Moon through NASA’s Artemis program and we’re incredibly proud that Rocket Lab has played a key role in that”
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Owned and operated by Advanced Space on behalf of NASA, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) will be the first spacecraft to test the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) around the Moon. This is the same orbit intended for NASA’s Gateway, a Moon-orbiting outpost that will provide essential support for long-term astronaut lunar missions as part of the Artemis program.
Rocket Lab’s role in the mission took place over two phases. First, CAPSTONE was successfully launched to low Earth orbit by Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle on June 28th. From there, Rocket Lab’s Lunar Photon spacecraft provided in-space transportation, power, and communications to CAPSTONE. After six days of orbit-raising burns by Lunar Photon’s 3D printed HyperCurie engine, CAPSTONE was deployed on its ballistic lunar transfer trajectory to the Moon as planned at 07:18 UTC on July 4th. The mission was Rocket Lab’s fourth Electron launch this year, demonstrating the rocket’s continued reliability. In addition to providing the launch, Rocket Lab designed, manufactured, and operated the Lunar Photon spacecraft, successfully completing a highly complex deep space mission and demonstrating Rocket Lab’s growing capabilities as an end-to-end space company.
“The CAPSTONE mission marks the beginning of humanity’s return to the Moon through NASA’s Artemis program and we’re incredibly proud that Rocket Lab has played a key role in that,” said Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck. “The Rocket Lab team has been working on CAPSTONE with NASA and our mission partners for more than two years, developing new small satellite technology in the form of the Lunar Photon spacecraft to make this mission possible, so it’s an incredible feeling after all that hard work and innovation to achieve mission success and set CAPSTONE on a course for the Moon. This has been Rocket Lab’s most complex mission to date and our team has been incredible. We pushed Electron and Photon to their limits and proved it’s possible to do big missions with small spacecraft. Now we’ll be applying this ground-breaking technology for more interplanetary journeys, including our upcoming missions to Venus and Mars.”
With Rocket Lab’s role in the mission now complete, CAPSTONE’s solo journey to the Moon has begun. CAPSTONE will use its own propulsion and the Sun’s gravity to navigate the rest of the way to the Moon, a four-month journey that will have CAPSTONE arriving to its lunar orbit on November 13, 2022. The gravity-driven track will dramatically reduce the amount of fuel the CubeSat needs to get to the Moon. Advanced Space and Terran Orbital will manage the operation of the CAPSTONE satellite for the duration of its orbital lifespan.
The CAPSTONE mission was Rocket Lab’s 27th Electron launch overall, but it featured several significant technological firsts for the Company, including:
- First deep space mission.
- First use of Lunar Photon, a high energy variant of the Rocket Lab-designed and built Photon spacecraft. Rocket Lab previously launched and continues to operate two low Earth orbit variants of the Photon spacecraft.
- First collaborative mission between Rocket Lab and Advanced Solutions Inc, a Colorado-based flight-software company acquired by Rocket Lab in late 2021.
- First time using the FR-lite satellite radio which Rocket Lab has an exclusive license agreement with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory to manufacture.
- First mission where Electron’s second stage deorbited the same day as launch.
- First mission planning and executing lunar trajectories.
- At 300 kg (661 lbs) of payload mass, the mission was Electron’s heaviest lift to date.
CAPSTONE was the first in a series of interplanetary missions for Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft, including the ESCAPADE mission to Mars in 2024 and Rocket Lab’s upcoming private mission to Venus.
Advanced Space of Colorado, a leading commercial space solutions company, owns the CAPSTONE satellite and operates the mission. CAPSTONE was designed and built by Terran Orbital. CAPSTONE development is supported by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate via the Small Spacecraft Technology Program at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. Advanced Exploration Systems within NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate supports the launch and mission operations. NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for launch management.
Quelle: Business Wire
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Update: 6.07.2022
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CAPSTONE heads to the moon
WASHINGTON — A NASA-funded lunar cubesat is on its way to the moon July 4 after a series of burns by a Rocket Lab transfer stage.
Rocket Lab’s Lunar Photon stage released the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) cubesat at 3:18 a.m. Eastern, shortly after the seventh and final burn by the Photon’s HyperCurie engine that placed the vehicles onto a ballistic lunar trajectory.
Rocket Lab’s Electron launched Lunar Photon and CAPSTONE June 28, placing them into a low Earth orbit. Lunar Photon then performed maneuvers to increase the apogee of its orbit, reaching 70,000 kilometers before the final translunar injection burn.
Advance Space will take over operations of CAPSTONE, a 12U cubesat built by Terran Orbital. The NASA-funded mission will enter a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the moon to test the stability of that orbit ahead of future Artemis missions, including the lunar Gateway, that will operate there. It will also test autonomous positioning technologies through a link to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. NASA is spending about $30 million on CAPSTONE between its contracts with Advanced Space and Rocket Lab.
“Getting to this point, we have learned a tremendous amount already, and the time has come to execute our unique expertise for this monumental moon mission for NASA,” Brad Cheetham, chief executive of Advanced Space, said in a statement.
CAPSTONE will take more than four months to go to the moon, flying a low-energy trajectory that will take it 1.2 million kilometers from the Earth. That trajectory will minimize the propellant needed to enter lunar orbit in a maneuver scheduled for Nov. 13.
CAPSTONE was Rocket Lab’s first mission beyond Earth orbit. The company is developing a privately funded Venus probe mission that will be similar in design to CAPSTONE and Lunar Photon for launch on an Electron as soon as next year. The same architecture could be used for other solar system missions as well, the company says.
“We’ve built really impressive, low-cost access to not only the moon but to asteroids and other planets in our solar system,” Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab, said in remarks on the company’s webcast of the CAPSTONE deployment. “This marks the beginning of a new scientific era where, for some tens of millions of dollars, you can go to the moon or you can go to an asteroid or you can go to Mars or Venus.”
The CAPSTONE launch was Rocket Lab’s fourth Electron mission of the year. The company said the next Electron could roll out as soon as next week but has not disclosed a launch date or customer for that mission.
Quelle: SN
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Update: 7.07.2022
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NASA: Contact lost with spacecraft on way to test moon orbit
NASA says contact has been lost with a spacecraft headed to the moon to test out a lopsided lunar orbit
WASHINGTON -- NASA said Tuesday it has lost contact with a $32.7 million spacecraft headed to the moon to test out a lopsided lunar orbit, but agency engineers are hopeful they can fix the problem.
After one successful communication and a second partial one on Monday, the space agency said it could no longer communicate with the spacecraft called Capstone. Engineers are trying to find the cause of the communications drop-off and are optimistic they can fix it, NASA spokesperson Sarah Frazier said Tuesday.
The spacecraft, which launched from New Zealand on June 28, had spent nearly a week in Earth orbit and had been successfully kick-started on its way to the moon, when contact was lost, Frazier said.
The 55-pound satellite is the size of a microwave oven and will be the first spacecraft to try out this oval orbit, which is where NASA wants to stage its Gateway outpost. Gateway would serve as a staging point for astronauts before they descend to the lunar surface.
The orbit balances the gravities of Earth and the moon and so requires little maneuvering and therefore fuel and allows the satellite — or a space station — to stay in constant contact with Earth.
Quelle: abcNews
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Update: 8.07.2022
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Contact restored with NASA spacecraft headed to lunar orbit
NASA says contact has been restored with a spacecraft headed to the moon to test out a lopsided lunar orbit
WASHINGTON -- NASA said Wednesday that contact has been restored with its $32.7 million spacecraft headed to the moon to test out a lopsided lunar orbit.
Contact was lost after one successful communication and a second partial one on Monday, after the spacecraft left Earth's orbit on its way to the moon, the space agency said.
The spacecraft spent nearly a week circling the globe after launching from New Zealand on June 28.
According to NASA, data shows “the spacecraft is in good health and operated safely on its own while it was out of contact with Earth.” The cause of the communications drop-off is under investigation.
The 55-pound satellite is the size of a microwave oven and will be the first spacecraft to try out this oval orbit, which is where NASA wants to put its Gateway outpost. Gateway would serve as a staging point for astronauts before they descend to the lunar surface.
The orbit balances the gravities of Earth and the moon and so requires little maneuvering and therefore fuel and allows the satellite — or a space station — to stay in constant contact with Earth.
CAPSTONE communications restored
WASHINGTON — Spacecraft controllers have restored communications with a lunar cubesat that went silent shortly after its deployment earlier this week.
NASA and Advanced Space, the company operating the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) cubesat, said the spacecraft started transmitting again early July 6. The spacecraft stopped communicating about 11 hours after its July 4 deployment from Rocket Lab’s Lunar Photon transfer vehicle.
Both the agency and the company said the root cause of the communications malfunction remains under investigation. After troubleshooting, controllers received a signal from the spacecraft at 9:26 a.m. Eastern and full telemetry from it nearly an hour later, confirming that the spacecraft was in good condition.
“Through the work over the last day, the team has high confidence that the issue has been cleared and through changes to the configuration and operations it will not happen again,” Advanced Space said in a statement about the spacecraft’s status. NASA, in its own statement, said the loss of contact “was triggered during commissioning activities of the communications system” based on ground-based testing.
The interruption in communications led controllers to postpone CAPSTONE’s first trajectory correction maneuver, which was scheduled for July 5. NASA and Advanced Space said that maneuver is now scheduled for approximately 11:30 a.m. Eastern July 7. The spacecraft is still on track to enter the near-rectilinear halo orbit around the moon on Nov. 13.
Quelle:SN
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Update: 11.07.2022
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NASA’s CAPSTONE Updates Maneuver Schedule on Journey to Moon
The team for NASA’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) is standing down from the trajectory correction maneuver scheduled for July 9 to perform additional analysis on the spacecraft’s performance. The mission team will make a determination whether the maneuver is still needed at this time, and updates will be provided.
Trajectory correction maneuvers are thruster burns used to clean up expected variation in CAPSTONE’s orbit and more accurately target its path to the Moon. The maneuver scheduled for July 9 was to be part of CAPSTONE’s first series of trajectory corrections. CAPSTONE’s first trajectory correction maneuver on July 7 achieved about 90% of the objectives for this series of maneuvers.
CAPSTONE remains healthy and on track to arrive to its lunar orbit on Nov. 13. Read more from Advanced Space, which owns and operates CAPSTONE on behalf of NASA.
Quelle: NASA
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Terran Orbital Successfully Completes CAPSTONE’s First TCM Burn
The NASA Artemis program satellite is charting a new path to the Moon
BOCA RATON, Fla., July 8, 2022 – Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP), a global leader in satellite solutions, primarily serving the United States and Allied aerospace and defense industries, today announced the successful completion of CAPSTONE’s first TCM burn (TCM-1). As the first statistical maneuver of the mission, TCM-1 is designed to clean up expected dispersions from the launch vehicle injection – enabling CAPSTONE to continue its pathfinding lunar journey in support of NASA’s Artemis program.
Terran Orbital Guidance Navigation and Control systems perfectly performed the maneuver as designed by Advanced Space. The maneuver was designed based on navigation information collected by the Deep Space Network and processed by the Advanced Space flight dynamics team. Terran Orbital’s Mission Operations Center commanded the burn and processed the post-burn telemetry. Optimized for precise maneuvers, TCM-1 is the first maneuver executed by the CAPSTONE spacecraft using its onboard propulsion system. The maneuver was designed to be approximately 20 m/s. Initial radiometric-based reconstruction suggests TCM-1 achieved approximately 19.85 m/s which represents a deviation of approximately 0.75 % — well within expectations and predictions. At the time of maneuver execution, the spacecraft was approximately 465,000 km from the Earth. Prior to the maneuver, the spacecraft was on a trajectory that would take it approximately 1.2 million km from the Earth. With the completion of TCM-1 the spacecraft is now targeting a trajectory that will take it approximately 1.4 million km from Earth.
“Terran Orbital is thrilled to have successfully completed CAPSTONE’s first TCM burn,” said Terran Orbital Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer Marc Bell. “Our mission operations team is composed of relentless innovators who will ensure CAPSTONE’s continued health and success in charting a new path to the Moon. Terran Orbital looks forward to completing the spacecraft’s second maneuver as we continue to work alongside Advanced Space in making this historic NASA lunar mission a reality.”
CAPSTONE harnesses the gravity of the Sun to transfer to the Moon instead of fuel. This process is known as a highly efficient ballistic lunar transfer (BLT). The operations of the spacecraft are led by the Terran Orbital and Advanced Space mission operations teams in conjunction with NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN). CAPSTONE is on track to reach its Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) around the Moon on November 13.
About Terran Orbital
Terran Orbital is a leading manufacturer of small satellites primarily serving the United States and Allied aerospace and defense industries. Terran Orbital provides end-to-end satellite solutions by combining satellite design, production, launch planning, mission operations, and in-orbit support to meet the needs of the most demanding military, civil, and commercial customers. Learn more at www.terranorbital.com.
Quelle: Terran Orbital
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Update: 14.07.2022
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NASA's CAPSTONE cubesat performs 2nd engine burn en route to the moon
CAPSTONE continues to make its long, slow way to lunar orbit.
NASA's tiny CAPSTONE probe has refined its long and looping path to the moon once again.
The 55-pound (25 kilograms) CAPSTONE cubesat performed its second engine burn this morning (July 12). The autonomous maneuver, which occurred at about 11:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT), lasted for just 53 seconds and consumed 35 grams (1.2 ounces) of fuel, said representatives of the Colorado-based company Advanced Space(opens in new tab), which operates the mission for NASA.
It was the second thruster firing for CAPSTONE, which launched to Earth orbitatop a Rocket Lab Electron booster on June 28. The microwave-oven-sized spacecraft then spent the next week spiraling farther and farther from our planet thanks to engine burns by Rocket Lab's Photon satellite bus.
CAPSTONE separated from the Photon as planned on July 4, beginning its solo trek to the moon, which is scheduled to end with an arrival in a near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) on Nov. 13. The trip will take so long because CAPSTONE launched on the 58-foot-tall (19 meters) Electron, which is designed to deliver small satellites to Earth orbit; the cubesat therefore must take a highly fuel-efficient route to the moon.
It hasn't all been smooth sailing for CAPSTONE. Mission team members lost contact with the cubesat shortly after its deployment on July 4 but managed to touch base again about a day later. The communications dropout was caused by an improperly formatted command, which briefly flummoxed CAPSTONE due to a fault in the cubesat's flight software, mission team members have said.
But the little moon probe now seems to be doing fine. It performed its first engine burn on July 7, firing its propulsion system for 11 minutes to change its velocity by 45 mph (72 kph) as planned.
CAPSTONE's main mission goal is to verify the stability of its lunar NRHO, which no spacecraft has ever occupied before. NASA has selected this orbit for its Gateway space station, a key part of the agency's Artemis program of moon exploration.
The lunar cubesat will also conduct navigation and communications tests during its mission at the moon, which is expected to last at least six months.
Quelle: SC
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Update: 30.07.2022
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Terran Orbital concludes TCM-2 for CAPSTONE
Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP), a global leader in satellite solutions, primarily serving the United States and Allied aerospace and defense industries, has announced the successful execution of CAPSTONE's TCM-2 burn. The burn occurred in two parts with final success declared on July 26 at 1:45 UTC.
As with TCM 1-a and TCM 1-c, this burn confirms the NASA satellite will maintain the proper trajectory to continue charting a groundbreaking path to the Moon. For each burn, navigation information is collected by NASA's Deep Space Network and processed by the Advanced Space flight dynamics team. The Terran Orbital Mission Operations Center then commands the burn and processes the post-burn telemetry.
The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, otherwise known as CAPSTONE, is the first spacecraft to test a unique, elliptical lunar orbit. As a pathfinder for NASA's Moon-orbiting Gateway outpost, CAPSTONE will help reduce risk for future spacecraft by validating innovative navigation technologies and verifying the dynamics of this halo-shaped orbit.
The orbit, formally known as a near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO), is significantly elongated. NRHO serves as a precise balance point in the gravities between the Earth and the Moon - requiring minimal energy to maintain and offering stability for long-term missions such as Gateway.
NRHO requires less propulsion capability for spacecraft flying to and from the Moon's surface than circular orbits. CAPSTONE will come within 1,000 miles of one lunar pole on its near pass and 43,500 miles from the other pole at its peak every seven days - establishing a location that is an ideal staging area for missions to the Moon and beyond.
"Each burn brings CAPSTONE one step closer to the Moon," said Terran Orbital Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer Marc Bell.
"Terran Orbital is beyond proud of our incredible engineers who not only designed, built, and integrated CAPSTONE, but are now leading mission operations in collaboration with NASA and Advanced Space. We look forward to continuing this collaboration as we guide CAPSTONE on its historic lunar journey."
CAPSTONE launched into space aboard Rocket Lab's Electron, attached to the company's Lunar Photon, on June 28. The spacecraft is using a highly efficient ballistic lunar transfer (BLT) to harness the gravity of the Sun to transfer to the Moon. CAPSTONE will demonstrate key commercial capabilities and future mission potential while reaching NRHO around the Moon on November 13.
Quelle: SD
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Update: 1.09.2022
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NASA's tiny CAPSTONE moon probe is nearly 1 million miles from Earth
The 55-pound CAPSTONE reached its farthest point from its home planet last week.
NASA's little CAPSTONE spacecraft keeps checking off milestones on its long journey to the moon.
The 55-pound (25 kilograms) CAPSTONE reached apogee, its farthest point from Earth, on Friday afternoon (Aug. 26). And was indeed far away on that date — a whopping 951,908 miles (1,531,948 kilometers), according to Advanced Space(opens in new tab), the Colorado-based company that operates the mission for NASA.
CAPSTONE (short for "Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment") launched atop a Rocket Lab Electron booster on June 28. The microwave-oven-sized probe is taking a circuitous, highly fuel-efficient route to the moon, where it's expected to arrive on Nov. 13.
On that date, CAPSTONE will slide into a near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) around Earth's nearest neighbor — the same highly elliptical path that will be used by Gateway, the planned space station that's an integral part of NASA's Artemis moon program.
No spacecraft has ever occupied a lunar NRHO before, so CAPSTONE will vet its stability and other characteristics ahead of Gateway's assembly there. The cubesat will also conduct several navigation and communications tests during its planned six months at the moon, some of them in concert with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
CAPSTONE has already proven itself a resilient spacecraft. The cubesat went dark shortly after it deployed from Rocket Lab's Photon bus on July 4, but mission team members managed to reestablish contact a day later. The brief dropout was caused by an improperly formatted command, CAPSTONE team members have said.
CAPSTONE isn't the only Artemis action that space fans have been following lately. NASA aimed to launch Artemis 1, the first official mission of the ambitious program, on Monday morning (Aug. 29) but called the attempt off due to a technical issue.
Artemis 1 will use NASA's brand-new Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket to launch an uncrewed Orion capsule on a six-week journey to lunar orbit and back. The glitch that nixed Monday's planned liftoff was a cooling problem with one of the four RS-25 engines in the SLS' core stage.
The Artemis 1 team is still investigating the issue and has not yet announced a new target launch date.
Quelle: SC
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Update: 13.09.2022
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CAPSTONE enters safe mode during trajectory correction maneuver
PARIS — A NASA-funded cubesat mission to the moon has gone into safe mode after suffering a problem during a trajectory correction maneuver, the agency said Sept. 10.
The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) spacecraft was performing its third trajectory correction maneuver on Sept. 8 when it encountered an unspecified problem late in the burn, NASA said in a brief statement. That issue put the spacecraft into a protective safe mode.
“The CAPSTONE mission team has good knowledge of the state and status of the spacecraft,” NASA said in the statement. “The mission operations team is in contact with the spacecraft and working towards a solution with support from the Deep Space Network.”
NASA issued the statement several hours after satellite observers noticed unusual activity on the Deep Space Network associated with CAPSTONE, with several antennas at the network’s Goldstone, California, facility attempting to communicate with the spacecraft. That behavior appeared similar to what happened when the spacecraft encountered a communications problem shortly after its deployment in July.
CAPSTONE is a NASA-funded mission to test operations in the near-rectilinear halo orbit around the moon that the agency plans to use for the Artemis lunar exploration campaign, including the lunar Gateway. The spacecraft will also test its ability to determine its position autonomously while in that orbit. CAPSTONE won the Small Satellite Mission of the Year award at the annual Small Satellite Conference in August.
CAPSTONE is owned and operated by Colorado-based Advanced Space. “The anomaly resolution has been enabled by the exceptional support of the team at the Deep Space Network,” the company said in its own statement. “The mission operations team is in contact with the vehicle and working to resolve the anomaly.”
Advanced Space handles operations of CAPSTONE along with Terran Orbital, which built the spacecraft. Rocket Lab launched CAPSTONE in June on its Electron rocket, injecting it into a ballistic lunar transfer trajectory on its Lunar Photon kick stage. It is scheduled to enter orbit around the moon Nov. 13.
Quelle: SN
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Update: 7.10.2022
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NASA's tiny CAPSTONE probe still struggling en route to the moon
The little CAPSTONE spacecraft is stable, but engineers haven't yet regained full control as it flies towards the moon.
Engineers are still troubleshooting the glitches afflicting NASA's tiny moon-bound CAPSTONE probe.
CAPSTONE entered safe mode after an engine burn on Sept. 8, and the mission team has been addressing the problem ever since.
The microwave oven-sized CAPSTONE is a pioneer in cubesat science, helping to expand the reach of these little spacecraft well beyond Earth orbit. The still-undiagnosed issues may demonstrate the challenge of operating smaller vehicles in the radiation-laden environment of deep space.
According to the CAPSTONE teams, the 55-pound (25 kilograms) spacecraft is in a stable condition at the moment, but engineers have not yet gained full control of it.
"The CAPSTONE mission team is continuing to work towards recovery of the spacecraft's full three-axis control," the Colorado company Advanced Space, which operates the spacecraft for NASA, wrote during its latest update(opens in new tab) on Sept. 30. (The three axes are yaw, pitch and roll, which are used in aerospace to define movements of objects in the air or in space.)
Teams are currently "collecting information from the spacecraft, running simulations and refining recovery plans," added Advanced Space. NASA, in its own update(opens in new tab), echoed these procedures and emphasized the spacecraft is still flying toward the moon and "generating more power from its solar panels than the spacecraft systems are using."
The initial glitch "resulted in the vehicle attitude [orientation] rates growing beyond the capacity of the onboard reaction wheels to control and counter," according to a Sept. 12 update from Advanced Space. CAPSTONE entered safe mode as a result.
CAPSTONE launched atop a Rocket Lab Electron booster on June 28 with an ambitious mission to occupy and characterize a lunar near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO). That's the same orbit that will be used by NASA's Gateway space station in a few years.
NASA wants to verify how stable the orbit is ahead of launching Gateway, which is a key part of the agency's Artemis moon program. Aside from this orbital verification, the cubesat has navigation and communications experiments planned, including some in partnership with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
CAPSTONE isn't expected to reach the moon until Nov. 13, and it remains on course, team members have said. On July 4, teams overcame another major issue when the spacecraft went dark just after separating from Rocket Lab's Photon spacecraft bus. Teams traced the issue to an improperly formatted command and fixed it a day later.
Quelle: SC
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Update: 10.10.2022
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CAPSTONE BACK UNDER CONTROL
The CAPSTONE cubesat on its way to the Moon to scout a new orbit for NASA is returning to normal operations. Built, operated and owned by the private sector, the spacecraft suffered an anomaly on September 8 that caused it to spin out of control. Operators now have stopped the spinning and regained 3-axis attitude control allowing CAPSTONE to point its solar arrays towards the Sun to restore power and its antenna toward Earth to improve communications. It still will reach lunar orbit on November 13 as planned.
The 55-pound Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) spacecraft, about the size of a microwave oven, was developed through NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Designed and built by Terran Orbital, the spacecraft is owned by Advanced Space in Westminster, CO on behalf of NASA. The two companies operate it jointly.
Launched on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from New Zealand on June 28, communications were briefly lostshortly after it separated from Electron on July 4. They were soon regained, however, and the spacecraft successfully made its first course change on July 7.
Then on September 8 during another trajectory change, something happened that caused the spacecraft to lose stabilization and begin spinning. After weeks of troubleshooting, operators determined that a valve on one of the eight thrusters is partially open so it produces thrust whenever the system is pressurized.
CAPSTONE will be the first spacecraft to enter a unique elongated orbit around the Moon called a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit. NASA plans to put its Gateway space station in that orbit to support the Artemis lunar program.
The elliptical orbit will bring a spacecraft as close as 1,000 miles of one lunar pole, but 43,500 miles from the other every seven days. CAPSTONE will validate NASA’s models of requirements for power and propulsion to maintain the orbit and test navigation capabilities using another NASA satellite that’s been orbiting the Moon since 2009, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, as a reference point.
NASA praised the work of the team in a post on its Artemis blog.
The risks of this anomaly and recovery process were significant, and the team worked extensively and collaboratively to mitigate these risks. Over the coming days, the team will monitor the spacecraft status and make any needed adjustments to procedures in order to account for and mitigate the effects of the partially open thruster valve. The mission team also will work to design possible fixes for this valve-related issue in order to reduce risk for future maneuvers. CAPSTONE remains on track to insert into its targeted near rectilinear halo orbit at the Moon on Nov. 13.
Advanced Space said the commands were sent to CAPSTONE this morning and initial observations and data point to “a successful recovery.” They are evalauating changes to operational procedures to avoid this problem in the future while looking at potential fixes to the valve.
Advanced Space received $13.7 million from NASA to develop and manage CAPSTONE. The Rocket Lab launch cost $9.95 million.
NASA's tiny CAPSTONE moon probe overcomes glitch, sets sights on lunar orbit
CAPSTONE is on track for a Nov. 13 arrival in lunar orbit.
NASA's tiny CAPSTONE probe has bounced back from a troubling glitch and is on track to reach the moon this month as planned, mission team members said.
CAPSTONE, which is about the size of a microwave oven, entered a protective "safe mode" after experiencing an issue during an engine burn on Sept. 8 that caused the probe to start tumbling.
Mission team members eventually identified the likely cause of the glitch as an issue with a valve in the probe's propulsion system. They worked hard to troubleshoot the problem over the ensuing weeks, finally getting CAPSTONE to stop spinning in early October.
And now the 55-pound (25 kilograms) cubesat appears to be fully up and running again: CAPSTONE performed a trajectory-correcting engine burn as planned on Thursday (Oct. 27), keeping it on target for an arrival in orbit around the moon on Nov. 13, mission team members said.
Thursday's engine burn lasted about 220 seconds, which was the expected duration, representatives of the Colorado-based company Advanced Space, which operates CAPSTONE for NASA, said in an update on Monday(opens in new tab) (Oct. 31).
The maneuver occurred while CAPSTONE was 308,076 miles (495,800 kilometers) from Earth, the company added.
The cubesat is therefore beyond the moon, which orbits about 239,000 miles (385,000 km) from Earth. If all goes according to plan, CAPSTONE will conduct two more trajectory-correcting burns to spiral back toward the moon, finally inserting itself into a highly elliptical near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) on Nov. 13.
Gateway, a small moon-orbiting space station that's a key part of NASA's Artemis program, will also occupy a lunar NRHO. CAPSTONE will characterize this orbit, verifying its presumed stability ahead of Gateway's construction, which is expected to begin a few years from now.
CAPSTONE, short for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, launched atop a Rocket Lab Electron booster on June 28, kicking off a long, circuitous trek to the moon.
A week later, the mission team lost contact with CAPSTONE shortly after the probe separated from Rocket Lab's Photon spacecraft bus. But team members quickly fixed that problem, which was caused by an improperly formatted command.
CAPSTONE's mission is scheduled to last at least six months after it reaches the moon. In addition to the orbit-verification work, the little probe will also conduct some navigation and communications experiments, some of them in concert with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Quelle: SC
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Update: 13.11.2022
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NASA's tiny CAPSTONE moon probe gearing up for lunar arrival on Nov. 13