CAPSTONE: NASA's tiny Moon probe on path to recovery

NASA's tiny moon probe, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment or CAPSTONE, has improved thermal conditions for the propellant and other critical systems while maintaining positive power generation, the mission owner and operators said on Wednesday.

The Moon-bound spacecraft entered safe mode following a planned trajectory correction manoeuvre earlier this month. The spacecraft's propulsion system dropped below its operational temperature limit after the initial issue that put it into safe mode on September 8, 2022.

While the spacecraft continues to remain in safe mode, the team is making progress toward recovery operation.

"Over the past week, the CAPSTONE spacecraft was able to improve thermal conditions for the propellant and other critical systems while maintaining positive power generation. The operations team has been performing ground and spacecraft testing in preparation for an attempt to stop CAPSTONE's spin. This operation would return the spacecraft to normal status and will be attempted when preparations and testing are complete," NASA and Advanced Space said in a statement.

MISSION UPDATE: The #CAPSTONE team is making progress toward a recovery operation to stop the spacecraft’s spin and return it to normal status. Learn more: https://t.co/hGWCS5Ehe6 pic.twitter.com/EUt2PEs9L0

— NASA Ames (@NASAAmes) September 21, 2022

NASA's CAPSTONE launched on June 28, 2022, aboard a Rocket Lab's Electron rocket from the company's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. The mission is designed to test the dynamics of a near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) by demonstrating how to enter into and operate in this special orbit.

The CAPSTONE spacecraft is owned by Advanced Space on behalf of NASA and operations are performed jointly by teams at Advanced Space and Terran Orbital.

The tiny CubeSat reached apogee - the spacecraft's farthest point from Earth (at 1,531,949 km or 951,909 miles away) - late last month. It remains on track to arrive at its near rectilinear halo orbit on November 13.