NASA's tiny spacecraft completes second maneuver on its journey to the Moon

NASA's Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) on Tuesday completedits second trajectory correction maneuver on its journey to the Moon.

This maneuver further refines its trajectory to the Moon. The microwave oven–sized CubeSat will perform several such maneuvers during its four-month-long journey to lunar orbit, with the next one targeted for late July.

MISSION UPDATE: Another feather in our #CAPSTONE mission – the spacecraft successfully completed its second trajectory correction maneuver on the long but fuel-efficient journey to the Moon. The next maneuver is targeting late July. Learn more: https://t.co/iTu8YRrQ0Y pic.twitter.com/u7nUh45urq

— NASA Ames (@NASAAmes) July 13, 2022

CAPSTONE launched on Rocket Lab's Electron rocket from the Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand, Tuesday, June 28. It is taking a long but fuel-efficient route to the Moon, flying about 958,000 miles (1.54 million kilometers) from Earth before looping back around to its near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) - the same orbit planned for NASA's Gateway, a lunar space station that is part of the agency's Artemis Program.

After a four-month journey to its target destination, the tiny spacecraft will orbit this area around the Moon for at least six months to understand the characteristics of this unique orbit.