Calling Capstone: Nasa hopeful it can resume contact with spacecraft heading for moon
- Engineers lose touch with the US$32.7 million craft after kick-starting it on its way to test a lopsided lunar orbit
- Capstone will be the first spacecraft to try out the oval orbit as part of Nasa’s Gateway project to provide a staging post to the moon
Nasa engineers are hopeful they can resume contact with a US$32.7 million spacecraft heading to the moon after spending nearly a week in Earth’s orbit.
The US space agency said on Tuesday it had lost contact with the Capstone satellite soon after it was successfully kick-started on its way to the moon to test out a lopsided lunar orbit.
Nasa spokeswoman Sarah Frazier said engineers trying to find the cause of the communications drop-off were optimistic they can fix the problem which emerged after one successful communication and a second partial one on Monday.
Capstone – which launched from New Zealand on June 28, weighs 25kg (55lbs) and is the size of a microwave oven – will be the first spacecraft to try out this oval orbit, which is where Nasa wants to stage its Gateway outpost.
Gateway would serve as a staging point for astronauts before they descend to the lunar surface.
The orbit balances the gravities of Earth and the moon and so requires little manoeuvring and therefore fuel and allows the satellite – or a space station – to stay in constant contact with Earth.