In what UPI describes as a “major win” for NASA, the CAPSTONE CubeSat probe “arrived in orbit around the moon Sunday night.” NASA “made the announcement Monday amid a flurry of test missions in recent months that set the stage for astronauts to return to the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years.” CAPSTONE “was disabled for several weeks after a faulty engine burn sent it careening into outer space on Sept. 8.”
Full Story (UPI)
Tag: CAPSTONE
NASA Attempts to Regain Control of CAPSTONE
The Daily Mail (UK) reports that NASA’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) spacecraft as of last Thursday “experienced an anomaly that put the probe in a protective ‘safe mode.’” The probe, “which is around the size of a microwave oven and weighs just 55 pounds, has also been experiencing temperature issues and had problems generating power from its solar panels.” Ground teams “are now trying to stabilise the motion of the small scouting satellite and rescue the mission.”
Full Story (Daily Mail)