EDEN IAS

Menu
CAPSTONE NASA’S SATELLITE

UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS | CAPSTONE: NASA’S SATELLITE, NEWLY LAUNCHED | 01ST JULY | INDIAN EXPRESS

/ July, 2022, UPSC Daily Current Affairs

SYLLABUS SECTION: GS III (SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY)

WHY IN THE NEWS?

NASA has launched CAPSTONE NASA’S SATELLITE, a microwave oven-sized CubeSat weighing just 55 pounds (25 kg).

WHAT IS CAPSTONE?

  • CAPSTONE, short for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment,
  • They were about to design to test a unique, elliptical lunar orbit.
  • It aims to help reduce risk for future spacecraft by validating innovative navigation technologies,
  • And by verifying the dynamics of the halo-shaped orbit.

ITS LAUNCH

  • It is heading toward an orbit intended in the future for Gateway, a Moon-orbiting outpost that is part of NASA’s Artemis program.
  • The orbit is known as a near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO).
  • It is significantly elongate, and is locates at a precise balance point in the gravities of Earth and the Moon.
  • This offers stability for long-term missions like Gateway, NASA said on its website.
  • CAPSTONE NASA’S SATELLITE aims to help reduce risk for future spacecraft by validating innovative navigation technologies, and by verifying the dynamics of the halo-shaped orbit.
Mission details
  • CAPSTONE will enter NRHO, where it will fly within 1,600 km of the Moon’s North Pole on its near pass and 70,000 km from the South Pole at its farthest.
  • The spacecraft will repeat the cycle every six-and-a-half days and maintain this orbit for at least six months to study dynamics.
  • CAPSTONE will gain experience with small dedicated launches of CubeSats beyond low-Earth orbit, to the Moon, and beyond.

SOURCE: INDIAN EXPRESS