All about CAPSTONE, NASA’s recently launched satellite to the moon 

Do you like to keep yourself updated on the latest happenings in space and the solar system? Then, you must have certainly read that National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA’s space agency, recently launched a satellite to the moon named CAPSTONE. According to media reports, on June 28, 2022, Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE), a NASA-funded spacecraft, was launched from New Zealand, kicking off the space agency's efforts to send astronauts back to the moon in a few years. Interestingly, the spacecraft is about the size of a microwave! Here’s all we know about it so far. 

What is the CAPSTONE mission all about? 
A 55-pound CubeSat, the size of a microwave oven called CAPSTONE, was launched by NASA on June 28. The satellite is headed towards an orbit designed in the future for Gateway, a Moon-orbiting station that is a part of NASA's Artemis programme. It was launched on Rocket Lab's Electron rocket from the Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1.  

Why was the mission launched? 
NASA opted to include Gateway, a small space station orbiting the moon, in Artemis, their project to send astronauts back to the moon. The satellite will research a particular lunar orbit called a near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) where the space agency intends to construct a tiny space station where astronauts can rest before and after landing on the moon's surface. By evaluating cutting-edge navigational technologies and confirming the dynamics of the halo-shaped orbit, CAPSTONE, as a path finder for Gateway, hopes to lower risk for future spacecraft. NRHO being quite long and situated at the exact place where the gravitational pulls of the Earth and the Moon are balanced will provide stability for long-term missions like Gateway as per NASA’s official website. Talking about its cost, CAPSTONE, the moon-bound spacecraft, is reasonably priced at just under $30 million, including the launch. 

What will the mission do? 
The mission will continue for six months once it reaches the moon, with the possibility of being extended to additional year perhaps. Its primary function will be to investigate how to effectively stay in the intended orbit. The spacecraft would triangulate its position by monitoring the time it takes radio signals to travel back and forth to Earth, and if it is off track, it would prompt itself. Even so, no spacecraft has ever gone in this orbit before; hence it may take some trial and error to get it right. Moreover, since the moon lacks a global positioning system, the spacecraft's location at any given time is more unpredictable. 

Which organisations run CAPSTONE? 
CAPSTONE was not created by NASA nor will it be run by them. Advanced Space, a 45-employee business located outside of Denver, is the owner of the spacecraft and will be in charge of it. The 55-pound, microwave-sized satellite was purchased by Advanced Space from another firm, Terran Orbital. Additionally, it has been launched by Rocket Lab, a US -New Zealand company that is a pioneer in placing small payloads into orbit, not by SpaceX or any of NASA's other major aerospace contractors as you might have thought.