NASA's CAPSTONE mission gets launch window; set to pave way for Artemis moon landing

NASA’s CAPSTONE mission, which will pave way for the next moon landing, has got a launch window. The American space agency revealed that the launch period begins no earlier than May 31 and extends to June 22. NASA also said that the teams will keep evaluating the date for the first attempt for liftoff throughout the launch window.

Purpose of the CAPSTONE mission

(CAPSTONE satellite's orbit; Image: NASA)

CAPSTONE stands for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, and it is a small satellite that will be inserted into a "near rectilinear halo orbit" (NRHO) around the Moon. This unique orbit looks like the one shown in the image above. It is an elongated oval with sides so long they're nearly straight. NASA says that this path is a "gravitational sweet spot" in space as the pull of gravity from Earth and the Moon interact to allow for a nearly-stable orbit.

NASA is sending the CAPSTONE CubeSat, which weighs 25 kilograms and is no bigger than a microwave oven, as the first spacecraft into this orbit. Basically, the aim of testing the orbit is to confirm that it requires less fuel and allows constant direct communications contact with Earth as the spacecraft passes by the Moon. This is because NASA and its international partners have an ambitious plan of building a Lunar Gateway around the Moon, which would ensure a long-term presence of humans on the lunar surface and help with the next moon landing under the Artemis missions. The Gateway will be very much like the International Space Station as it will support scientific experiments and studies and act as a connecting point between the Earth and the Moon. 

CAPSTONE leaves for launch site in New Zealand

In the latest mission update, NASA announced that the CAPSTONE CubeSat has been shipped from the Terran Orbital Corporation in California to the launch site the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand. The mission will lift off from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 (LC-1) in an Electron rocket provided by the company. According to NASA, the spacecraft will arrive at the launch site in a few days and will venture into a "never-been-tested" NRHO orbit.