John Paul M. Joaquin Science 07.05.2022 03:Jul AM EDT

NASA's CAPSTONE is Now Heading to the Moon After Breaking From Earth's Orbit

NASA'S CAPSTONE spacecraft is on its way to the moon.

The space agency's microsatellite is now on its way to the moon's near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) on its own after almost a week in Earth's orbit, per Space.com.

NASA's CAPSTONE spacecraft, or Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment spacecraft, is the first of many spacecraft NASA will send to the moon as part of its Artemis missions.

NASA CAPSTONE Spacecraft Status Details

NASA's 55lbs. microwave oven-sized spacecraft recently finished its final burn in Earth's orbit on July 4, and as such, it has set itself on a trajectory that will take it to the Moon's NRHO by the end of the year.

The microsatellite is currently moving more than 24,000 miles per hour thanks to Rocket Labs' Photon spacecraft bus' separation procedure. A spacecraft is required to reach speeds of more than 24,500 miles per hour to escape Earth's orbit.

Additionally, the CAPSTONE spacecraft was previously launched on June 28 following a delay to allow Rocket Labs to perform final systems checks on its reusable Electron booster.

During then and now, the spacecraft was still attached to Rocket Lab's Photon spacecraft bus in Earth's orbit. After detaching from the spacecraft bus, the CAPSTONE spacecraft will then undertake a four-month-long journey from Earth's orbit into the moon's NRHO to determine whether it is stable enough for long-term missions like the Artemis program's Gateway lunar base.

According to NASA experts, the NRHO could save the space agency a significant amount of energy to maintain a spacecraft's position in space. It is a "precise balance point" between the Earth and the moon's gravity.

NASA celebrated the spacecraft's departure from Earth's orbit, with the space agency live streaming the event around 2:56 AM EDT.

Peter Beck, Rocket Labs' CEO, tweeted on his official Twitter account that the success inspires one to say something epic. However, he could only say that the burn was a "perfect moon mission success."

NASA expects that the spacecraft will reach the moon's NRHO on November 13, wherein it will zoom within 1,000 miles of the moon's surface at its closest and 43,500 miles at its furthest.

The CAPSTONE spacecraft was launched from Rocket Labs' Launch Complex 1, which is located in New Zealand, per NASA.

What's Next For NASA?

As previously mentioned, should the CAPSTONE maintain its position within the moon's NRHO, it would give NASA the green light to plan for the upcoming Lunar Gateway.

The Gateway is expected by NASA officials to be used to support a long-term and sustainable human presence on and around the moon, per Gizmodo. It will also be used as a pit stop for astronauts and spacecraft assigned to explore Mars and other celestial bodies in deep space.

Additionally, the CAPSTONE spacecraft will also be used to evaluate CAPSTONE's autonomous navigation software, which will allow future spacecraft to find their location without having to rely on tracking from Earth exclusively.