NASA launches CAPSTONE mission to the moon
- On June 28, 2022, the NASA researchers successfully launched CAPSTONE spacecraft to the moon from New Zealand. The launch took place on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket.
- Mission CAPSTONE stands for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment.
- CAPSTONE is a microwave oven-sized spacecraft with the aim to study a specific type of moon orbit that will be suitable for the lunar Gateway space station that NASA aims to launch later this decade.
- The lunar Gateway space station will be a small space station for astronauts in orbits where they can stop before and after going to the moon’s surface.
Source: CNBC