A three-month journey awaits the Capstone nanosatellite. Objective: the Moon. A mission of the utmost importance, to prepare for the arrival of the future lunar space station.
That’s it ! Capstone is no longer on Earth. NASA’s tiny satellite has just left for a one-way trip. Direction: the Moon. The machine – a CubeSat, that is to say a device whose dimensions are similar to those of a shoebox – left New Zealand, apart from an Electron rocket implemented by the American company Rocket Lab.
Although unknown to the general public, the US space agency’s nanosatellite must fulfill a mission with major challenges for the proper implementation of the plan to bring astronauts back to the Moon – the Artemis program. It acts as a scout for the future lunar space station, placing itself in a particular orbit, which must be the one that the superstructure will use one day.
This particular orbit is called the near-rectilinear halo orbit (or NRHO). Compared to the Moon, it is quite elongated, in the shape of an ellipse. According to NASA, she is ” at a precise balance point between the gravities of Earth and the Moon, provides stability for long-term missions like Gateway », the future lunar station.
This orbit offers several convenient features for NASA to prepare for back and forth between Earth and the Moon and does not require a lot of energy to stay in place. It is also interesting for preparing missions that would go beyond the Moon — Mars is obviously on everyone’s mind and is proving to be the real new frontier of humanity.
Capstone left for a three month trip
Capstone is now off on a journey of a few months. In six days, a final ignition of the Photon engine (which is the third stage of the Electron rocket) will provide thrust allowing it to accelerate to more than 39,400 km/h in order to exit low Earth orbit and enter deep space. Capstone will then set course for the Moon.
The Moon may be in the immediate vicinity of the Earth, with a distance of barely 384,400 km, the journey will take three months. Once inserted into orbit, the machine will operate for at least six months around the satellite – and perhaps more if a mission extension is decided. Main objective: to ensure the stability of the orbit planned for the Lunar Gateway station.
NASA judges that the NRHO orbit perfect for Gateway », by combining the advantages of low lunar orbit (access to the surface) with those of far retrograde orbit (energy efficiency). It provides access to the South Pole and various landing sites, where astronauts will test devices for future explorations in the Solar System.
The NRHO orbit will also provide opportunities for scientific research in deep space, to conduct experiments on radiation and its effects on organisms and onboard instruments. Another notable advantage: it also avoids interruptions of communication with the Earth, since the space station will always be in sight of the Earth.
In short, this orbit looks like a necklace that would be suspended from the neck of the Moon, according to the space agency. It could hardly be more poetic.
