NASA re-establishes communication with CAPSTONE
NASA’S CAPSTONE was launched on July 4
The spacecraft successfully deployed its solar arrays and stabilised itself
CAPSTONE
had also begun charging its onboard battery and had readied its propulsion systems for its first manoeuvre
After the CAPSTONE was launched, it made contacts with DSN ground station and Goldstone ground station
But NASA was not able to conduct a manoeuvre that would make corrections to increase the accuracy of its transfer to the lunar orbit
After a short communications blackout, NASA mission operators successfully re-established contact with the CAPSTONE spacecraft
One of the mission’s primary goal is to test out CAPS
Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System is CAPSTONE’s autonomous navigation software
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