Although more information is needed, it is a serious problem that could jeopardize the entire mission. “Following the successful deployment and launch of the spacecraft on July 4, the [CAPSTONE] The spacecraft encountered communication problems while in contact with the Deep Space Network,” an official NASA news release says, referring to a global network of three ground-based facilities that allow NASA and non-NASA spacecraft to maintain contact with each other and with the groups that are behind. “The spacecraft team is currently working to understand the cause and reestablish contact.”
Good trajectory
Fortunately, all is not lost. The CAPSTONE team has “good orbit data for the spacecraft based on the first full and second partial ground station passes with the Deep Space Network,” according to the update, meaning scientists will at least know where to look in their efforts to regain communication with the spacecraft. The spacecraft also has the ability to delay the “orbit correction maneuver” toward the Moon according to NASA, buying the team “several days” of time.
Means of progress
The CAPSTONE mission may have been cheap by NASA standards at just $32.7 million, but losing communication so early doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. The satellite is intended to enter a nearly rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon, setting the stage for NASA’s Gateway space station, which will use the same orbital path. But without comms, CAPSTONE may never get there. All we can do is hope that the team can make contact with the small spaceship again. “Additional updates will be provided as soon as possible,” NASA promised in its update. READ MORE: CAPSTONE update on communications issue [NASA] More about CAPSTONE: There is a NASA satellite headed for the Moon right now
