The small moon satellite CAPSTONE is back in contact with the ground station of NASA† The space agency managed to restore communication after a silence of almost 24 hours.
NASA reports that the data received from CAPSTONE indicates that the satellite is in good condition. The team behind the satellite does not yet know what the exact cause of the problems was and is still investigating.
CAPSTONE lose just after leaving Earth orbit, contact with NASA. The satellite is on its way to the moon, where it will investigate a never-before-traveled orbit around the moon. NASA wants to investigate whether that orbit is suitable for a small space station, where astronauts can dock before and after a visit to the moon.
Now that the connection is restored, CAPSTONE can get ready for the next maneuver. Because although the satellite is already on its way to the moon, the position still needs to be corrected slightly to get CAPSTONE into the correct orbit around the moon.
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