News on July 5, local time Monday,The US Capstone cube satellite successfully escaped from Earth’s orbit and began to fly to the moon,It’s also part of NASA’s astronaut program to land on the moon.
The Capstone cubesat, the size of a microwave oven, was launched from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula six days ago on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket. With so little fuel used in the cruise, the satellite will take another four months to reach lunar orbit.
Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck said in an interview that his excitement was beyond words.
“It can take a while to understand. This project took us two and a half years before and after, and it was very, very difficult to execute.” The task was relatively inexpensive,NASA’s estimate of $32.7 million marks the beginning of a new era in space exploration.
“It’s now possible to build rockets and spacecraft that can reach the moon, asteroids, even Venus and Mars, for tens of millions of dollars,” Baker said. “It’s a crazy capability that has never been seen before.”
If the rest of the mission is successful, the Capstone cubesat will send vital information back to Earth over the next few months, becoming the first satellite to orbit the moon in a new orbit.
Known as a “near rectilinear halo orbit” (NRHO), this orbit looks like a stretched egg shape with one end of the orbit near the moon and the other farther away.
NASA plans to put a space station called Moongate into such an orbit,As part of the Artemis lunar landing program, astronauts could reach the lunar surface from the space station.
The advantage of the new orbit, Baker said, is to minimize fuel usage and allow a satellite or space station to remain in constant contact with Earth.
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