NASA loses contact with a satellite sent to put astronauts back on the Moon

NASA has admitted to losing contact with its Capstone satellite which was launched into orbit around the Moon in an effort to return astronauts to the lunar surface

NASA said it lost contact with its Capstone satellite (

Image: Illustration by NASA/Daniel Rutter)

Contact has been lost with a NASA satellite that was to orbit the Moon and is part of a new project to send astronauts to the lunar surface again.

The US space agency admitted the bad news Tuesday afternoon after the successful launch of the small Capstone (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) satellite on June 28.

The 55-pound satellite successfully broke free from Earth orbit and was on track to reach lunar orbit in mid-November.

But soon after NASA lost contact with the satellite and its status is currently unknown or if the entire mission is in jeopardy.

In a press release, the agency said it is now working to restore communication, but the problem appears to be with the Capstone satellite and not the Deep Space Network, which are the antennas NASA uses to make contact with him.< /p> The Capstone satellite was first successfully launched before contact was lost (

Picture:

Artwork by NASA/Daniel Rutter)

The statement reads: "After the successful deployment and start of spacecraft commissioning on July 4, the Cislunar spacecraft Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (Capstone) encountered communication problems when in contact with the Deep Space Network.

“The spacecraft team is currently working to understand the cause and restore contact. The team has good trajectory data for the spacecraft based on the first full pass and the second pass partial ground station with the Deep Space Network.

"If necessary, the mission has sufficient fuel to delay the initial post-separation course correction maneuver by several days. Additional updates will be provided as soon as possible."

They had previously claimed the project...