Updated: Jun 19, 2023
NASA has big plans to send astronauts back to the moon, using a 55-pound spacecraft to achieve their goals. Their program, called Artemis, drops off capsules, collects scientific data, and does experiments, broadening our understanding of the moon, our solar system, and the rest of the universe. A few years from now, astronauts are to return to the moon, more than half a century since the last Apollo moon landing.
A spacecraft named CAPSTONE, or Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology, forms the first part of the Artemis program. It won’t contain any people, nor will it be landing on the moon. Instead, CAPSTONE will be a lookout around the lunar orbit where NASA is planning to build a crewed space station outpost named Gateway. CAPSTONE was not created by NASA; they actually bought it from a company called Advanced Space, and since its creation and launch will be relatively quick, easy, and cheap, just under $10 million, the spacecraft’s price wasn’t high. CAPSTONE is predicted to launch in 2025, but the launch date will most likely be pushed back.
The space station called Gateway will be stationed in the near-rectilinear halo orbits, which are the orbits controlled by the gravity of both Earth and the moon. Experts hope that this will make Gateway’s orbit very stable. However, no spacecraft has ever traveled in this particular orbit.
The hardest thing in space is knowing your location; you can always estimate—however, your estimate will probably not be accurate. CAPSTONE has a new method of knowing its location. It uses GPAs, computer-chip-scale atomic clocks, to compare time with Earth, and it also communicates with other spacecrafts.
CAPSTONE and the Artemis program could pave the way for new programs, possibly exploring Mars or even Venus.
NASA has big plans to send astronauts back to the moon, using a 55-pound spacecraft to achieve their goals. Their program, called Artemis, drops off capsules, collects scientific data, and does experiments, broadening our understanding of the moon, our solar system, and the rest of the universe. A few years from now, astronauts are to return to the moon, more than half a century since the last Apollo moon landing.
A spacecraft named CAPSTONE, or Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology, forms the first part of the Artemis program. It won’t contain any people, nor will it be landing on the moon. Instead, CAPSTONE will be a lookout around the lunar orbit where NASA is planning to build a crewed space station outpost named Gateway. CAPSTONE was not created by NASA; they actually bought it from a company called Advanced Space, and since its creation and launch will be relatively quick, easy, and cheap, just under $10 million, the spacecraft’s price wasn’t high. CAPSTONE is predicted to launch in 2025, but the launch date will most likely be pushed back.
The space station called Gateway will be stationed in the near-rectilinear halo orbits, which are the orbits controlled by the gravity of both Earth and the moon. Experts hope that this will make Gateway’s orbit very stable. However, no spacecraft has ever traveled in this particular orbit.
The hardest thing in space is knowing your location; you can always estimate—however, your estimate will probably not be accurate. CAPSTONE has a new method of knowing its location. It uses GPAs, computer-chip-scale atomic clocks, to compare time with Earth, and it also communicates with other spacecrafts.
CAPSTONE and the Artemis program could pave the way for new programs, possibly exploring Mars or even Venus.
