It is a modest step, but essential for preparing for the return of humans to the Moon as part of the Artemis mission. NASA has sent the CAPSTONE satellite in the space. Its objective is to prepare the ground for the astronauts who will arrive in a few years.
Rocket Lab sends CAPSTONE satellite into lunar orbit
One more step towards the return of a human presence on the Moon. NASA called on Rocket Lab to carry out this mission. This private company has developed a very special rocket. The launcher that sent the CAPSTONE satellite into lunar orbit is the first rocket to be powered by electric batteries rather than a gas turbine. In the launch process, there is therefore a phase called “battery ejection”which occurs towards the end of the cycle.
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According to the American space agency, all the stages of the launch took place as planned. The spacecraft reached low Earth orbit at approximately T+10 minutes. This rocket called Electron is much smaller than the others. According to Rocket Lab, it is also the smallest rocket to be able to launch such a charge this far. Thanks to the power of the upper stage called Lunar Photon, the CAPSTONE satellite should reach lunar orbit with no problem.
Objective: prepare the ground for the Gateway space station
This launch took place on the Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand. It was a real feat for Electron because it was about “the highest mass that Electron has had to send into space”. CAPSTONE will stay first orbiting the Earth for nine days in order to acquire sufficient speed to perform a “translunar injection” which will allow it to orbit the Moon. The objective of this mission is to analyze a type of highly elliptical lunar orbit called “almost straight halo”.
It is in this orbit that the future Gateway space station plans to position itself, with humans on board. The Gateway spacecraft will be sent into lunar orbit by SpaceX. It’s a spaceship composed of a scientific laboratory and several living quarters for astronauts, as well as ports for future spacecraft. For CAPSTONE, the arrival on the Moon is scheduled for November 13. This is a major milestone for NASA’s Artemis mission, which aims to send humans to the moon for the first time since 1972.