CAPSTONE: Project of Firsts
We choose to go to the Moon!
In his famous speech in 1962, John F. Kennedy, the former president of the USA (United States of America), stated this. Sixty years after the speech, we choose to go to the Moon again.
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CAPSTONE PROJECT. Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment), briefly,CAPSTONE project, is a mission developed by NASA years later that they chose as their target again the Moon and in collaboration with several private companies. An orbit not previously visited, a rocket that has not put payload into such a high orbit, a launch site that has not been used to aim for the Moon; these are just a few of the reasons that make CAPSTONE a project of firsts.
When we chose to go to the Moon 60 years ago, we had no good answer to the question "how?". All we had was a curiosity and the excitement of discovering new places. More than half a century later, we now have much more than we had back then. We now have a good answer to the "how?" question. And we are even searching for better answers. That is exactly what CAPSTONE will do.
The satellite, bearing the same name as the project, weighs 25 kilograms and is the size of a microwave oven. In preparing this "oven," five different private companies collaborated with NASA's financial support. These companies are as follows, and each has taken on specific tasks in the implementation of the project:
Advanced Space - the development of the project and oversight of the mission;
Terran Orbital - design and assembly of the satellite;
Stellar Exploration - development of the propulsion subsystem (the system that will provide the power needed for the satellite to move in space);
Tethers Unlimited - development of radio communication systems;
Rocket Lab - launch of the satellite into space.
CAPSTONE, which started its preparation work in 2019, was launched into space on June 28 at 12:55 local time from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand using a rocket carrier called Electron. Both the Electron and the launch site belong to Rocket Lab, and the company is one of the first private space firms established in New Zealand.
Let me note that Electron is mainly designed to place small-sized spacecraft into low Earth orbit. The last stage of the three-stage rocket carrier is equipped with a module called Photon. This module, which contains CAPSTONE, is intended to place the satellite into the necessary orbit and help it escape Earth's gravity within 6 days after launch. After 6 days, CAPSTONE will have to continue its 4-month journey to the Moon on its own. According to calculations, it is anticipated that on November 13, the satellite will reach an orbit called Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit, abbreviated as NRHO.
CAPSTONE's MOON JOURNEY. If I have created a little confusion about where and when things will arrive, that's great! Because now we will travel together from Earth to the Moon guided by the following description, and everything will become clearer. If you're ready, let's go!
CAPSTONE's step-by-step journey to the Moon.
Launch. A rocket carrier called Electron directs CAPSTONE towards the Moon;
Separation of Photon. Nine minutes after launch, Photon separates from the second stage of the rocket carrier;
Entry into Low Earth Orbit. Photon enters a low Earth orbit of 250 km;
Orbit raising maneuvers. The HyperCurie engines, named in honor of Marie Curie and designed with 3D printing technology, periodically maneuver to move the module from lower orbit to higher orbit;
Attempt to enter Trans-Lunar Trajectory. At this point, the HyperCurie engines propel Photon to a speed of 11 km per second, helping it escape from Earth's gravity, and the module enters Trans-Lunar Trajectory;
Separation of CAPSTONE. Finally, our satellite separates from Photon, concluding its 6-day adventure, and begins to proceed along the Ballistic Lunar Trajectory;
Photon's fate. After parting ways with CAPSTONE, Photon fires its HyperCurie engines one last time to execute maneuvers to correct its trajectory, passing by the Moon and entering interplanetary space;
CAPSTONE from a distance. Reaching a distance of 1.3 million km from Earth, CAPSTONE uses the Sun's gravitational force to adjust its trajectory, then heads directly toward the Moon;
Countdown. Using the hydrazine fuel it carries, CAPSTONE fires its engines and enters NRHO;
Happy Ending. After a long journey of 4 months, CAPSTONE begins to orbit stably in NRHO and starts collecting data.
BALLISTIC ELONGATED ELLIPTICAL ORBIT - NRHO. Huh! It's a long journey, isn't it? But you might wonder, why take such a long route over several months when there is an option to go to the Moon in just a few days?
One of the things meant by saying CAPSTONE is a project of firsts is that this route it takes, the NRHO (Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit) it will reach has never been explored by any spacecraft before; this project is a first in this direction. The goal is just that - discovery!
The elongated elliptical orbit of NRHO will see CAPSTONE complete each revolution in approximately one week, and this will last at least 6 months. Of course, during its cycles, it will continuously communicate with Earth, sending the collected data for analysis. This period is considered an ideal time to study the desired and targeted orbit for 22 months.
In the elongated elliptical orbit of NRHO, CAPSTONE will complete each revolution in approximately one week.
Since NRHO is more stable and solid (according to scientists' calculations), the spacecraft will save considerable fuel while moving around the Moon in this orbit. As little fuel will be required during the motion along the route used to reach the orbit, known as Ballistic Lunar Trajectory, both the overall costs of the mission will be significantly lower, and more can be transported to the lunar orbit with less fuel. Thus, the realization of future Lunar Gateway becomes several steps closer to us.
Gateway is the name given to the Lunar Gateway, which NASA has prepared as a stopping point for sending humans to the Moon again through the Artemis Project. The station will serve several purposes: it can be used as a stop for different spacecraft visiting the Moon, living can be made possible, and conditions for conducting scientific research will be created, while continuously accepting cargo and logistical modules to meet the needs of travelers going to the Moon. You might have thought of the International Space Station, which currently orbits around Earth. Yes, just like that, except around the Moon, not Earth. And in the NRHO that CAPSTONE is currently investigating. If the project is successful, if NRHO proves to be stable, reliable, and requiring low fuel consumption as noted in scientists' calculations, then thanks to this orbit, Gateway could operate around the Moon for at least the next 15 years.
Gateway - the name given to the Lunar Gateway, which will be used as a stopping point for NASA's Artemis mission to send humans to the Moon again.
CAPSTONE, CAN YOU HEAR US? Another mission assigned to CAPSTONE is to establish communication with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a satellite that was sent to the Moon in 2009 and is still orbiting the Moon. If the communication is successful, the two spacecraft, without needing to be tracked from Earth, will be able to "talk" to each other and determine their coordinates relative to each other, allowing them to freely continue on their paths.
Currently, NASA's gigantic radio antennas known as the Deep Space Network (DSN) are used to communicate with CAPSTONE. These radio antennas are considered among the best for their ability to maintain contact with very distant spacecraft thanks to their power and capabilities. However, due to issues originating from either the spacecraft or the ground antennas, sometimes there can be interruptions in communication. Our satellite also experienced a brief such issue after separating from the Photon module, but communication was quickly restored, and it has been reported that this interruption had no serious impact on the progress of the mission.
By the way, you can use this link to see the details of the connection between CAPSTONE and the DSN. To track where CAPSTONE is, simply click here.
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We have shared another cosmic journey together. Maybe in the coming decades, we will visit those places CAPSTONE has explored and hum a tune while looking at the approaching Moon from the window of the spacecraft:
Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like on
A-Jupiter and Mars
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The Artemis Project - the project developed by NASA to return to the Moon years later and land the first woman and the first Black astronaut on the lunar surface
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) - a NASA satellite used to map the Moon, which has been orbiting the Moon since June 18, 2009
Deep Space Network (DSN) - a network of gigantic radio antennas used to communicate with interplanetary spacecraft. It is also used during astronomical observations to establish communication with several low Earth orbit spacecraft and to obtain information about the farthest points of our Solar System.