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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