![]() The first two Starship missions are slated for later this decade. NASA awarded fellow billionaire Musk's SpaceX $3 billion in 2021 to build its Starship spacecraft to land astronauts on the lunar surface for the first time since the final Apollo mission in 1972. NASA's decision to go with Bezos and Blue Origin will give it a second option for sending astronauts to the moon under its Artemis program. NASA picked Blue Origin over a rival bid led by Leidos Inc-owned (LDOS.N) defense contractor Dynetics that also included Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N). space agency said on Friday, a breakthrough for the company two years after it lost out to Elon Musk's SpaceX in another competition.īlue Origin plans to build its 52-foot (16-meter) tall Blue Moon lander in partnership with Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), Boeing Co (BA.N), software firm Draper and robotics firm Astrobotic. There are several spacecraft orbiting the Moon and there will be plenty more to come, including CAPSTONE as part of NASA’s Artemis program.WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) - A team led by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin won a coveted $3.4 billion NASA contract to build a spacecraft to fly astronauts to and from the moon's surface, the U.S. So does anything orbit the Moon? In summary, yes. Another really cool thing about CAPSTONE is that it is also demonstrating a really innovative navigation system that will allow future spacecraft to determine their location without having to rely exclusively on tracking from Earth. This NRHO orbit is at a precise balance point between the gravities of the Earth and the Moon, which offers a long, stable orbit so that Gateway and future spacecraft don’t have to carry so much fuel to stay in orbit around the Moon.ĬAPSTONE is helping lead the way for Gateway and helps reduce risk for future spacecraft in this orbit. What’s really cool about CAPSTONE is that it’s the first spacecraft to test the entrance and sustainability of a very unique near rectilinear halo orbit, also known as NRHO. NASA Small Satellites Engineer Ahn Nguyen tells us about it. On November 13, 2022, they welcomed CAPSTONE, a CubeSat designed to test a new and unique halo-shaped orbit that will offer stability for long-term missions like our upcoming lunar Gateway space station. There are a handful of satellites currently orbiting our closest celestial neighbor. On the other hand, if the satellite is slightly too far away from the Moon, the Earth’s gravity will pull the spacecraft out, flinging it away from the Moon altogether.ĭoes anything orbit the Moon? Yes. If a satellite orbits too close to the lunar service, the Moon’s gravity might cause the satellite to actually crash into the Moon. Gateway is a space station that will orbit the Moon and provide a place for astronauts to resupply and prepare for their trips down to the lunar surface.ĭid you know that orbits around the Moon are very unstable? The Moon’s gravity is extraordinarily lumpy, so it’s really hard to stay in orbit around the Moon. ![]() ![]() It serves as a pathfinder mission for Gateway as part of NASA’s Artemis program. CAPSTONE stands for the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment. ![]() One of the really cool CubeSats I’m excited about is NASA CAPSTONE, which joined these other spacecraft in orbit around the Moon. Yes, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and a handful of other active spacecraft are currently orbiting the Moon. NASA’s Gateway, a vital component of Artemis program, will serve as a multi-purpose outpost orbiting the Moon that provides essential support for long-term human return to the lunar surface and serves as a staging points for deep space exploration. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |