This sixth burn was originally scheduled to be two burns, but the Rocket Lab space systems team decided that the HyperCurie engine could perform a single maneuver to achieve the same delta-v, so it combined the two. The next and final burn is designed to put CAPSTONE on a ballistic orbital lunar orbit to the Moon traveling at 24,500 mph (39,400 km / h) to be released from Earth orbit. This last maneuver is currently scheduled for July 4. After separating from the lunar photon, CAPSTONE will use its own propulsion and the Sun’s gravity to navigate the rest of its journey to the Moon, a four-month journey that CAPSTONE will have to reach its lunar orbit on November 13. . ABOUT CAPSTONE: Designed and built by NASA-owned and operated Advanced Space Terran Orbital, 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 destined for NASA’s Gateway, a multi-purpose orbital station on the Moon that will provide substantial support for long-term lunar astronaut missions as part of the Artemis program. CAPSTONE was successfully launched into space with Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle on June 28. Images & Video Content
