NASA announced Wednesday that contact has been reestablished with the $32.7 million spacecraft headed to the Moon to test an inclined lunar orbit.
Contact was lost after one successful communication and a second partial one on Monday after the spacecraft left Earth’s orbit en route to the moon, the space agency said.
The spacecraft spent nearly a week circling the globe after launching from New Zealand on June 28.
The 55-pound satellite is about the size of a microwave oven and will be the first spacecraft to test this oval orbit, where NASA wants to place its Gateway outpost. The portal would serve as a staging point for the astronauts before descending to the lunar surface.
The orbit balances the gravity of the Earth and the Moon and therefore requires little maneuvering and thus fuel and allows the satellite—or a space station—to remain in constant contact with Earth.
NASA: Lost contact with spacecraft en route to lunar orbit test
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title: “Contact Has Been Reestablished With The Nasa Spacecraft Headed For Lunar Orbit " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-05” author: “Andrea Horodyski”
Contact was lost after one successful communication and a second partial one on Monday after the spacecraft left Earth’s orbit en route 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, the data shows that “the spacecraft is in good health and operated safely on its own while out of contact with Earth.” The cause of the communications outage is being investigated. The 55-pound satellite is about the size of a microwave oven and will be the first spacecraft to test this oval orbit, where NASA wants to place its Gateway outpost. The portal would serve as a staging point for the astronauts before descending to the lunar surface. The orbit balances the gravity of the Earth and the Moon and thus requires little maneuvering and thus fuel and allows the satellite—or a space station—to remain in constant contact with Earth. SHARE:
