NASA's Moon-bound CAPSTONE spacecraft performs third maneuver about 1.25 million kms from Earth

On Monday, 25 July, NASA's Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) spacecraft successfully executed its third trajectory correction maneuver (TCM) on track to the Moon.

The spacecraft was about 780,000 miles (1.25 million kilometers) from Earth and was moving at about 595 miles per hour (about 267 meters per second) at the completion of the maneuver, NASA said.

CAPSTONE will perform several such maneuvers during its journey to lunar orbit to refine its trajectory to the Moon. The tiny spacecraft will arrive to its lunar orbit on November 13.

MISSION UPDATE: #CAPSTONE completed its third trajectory correction maneuver about 780,000 miles (1.25 million kilometers) from Earth! The spacecraft remains on track to arrive at its lunar orbit Nov. 13: https://t.co/qUq4lVHM62 pic.twitter.com/V3pz8xAcZh

— NASA Ames (@NASAAmes) July 27, 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. The spacecraft is utilizing the ballistic lunar transfer (BLT) and it will take four months to reach its planned Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) - the orbit planned for NASA's Gateway, a lunar space station that is part of the agency's Artemis Program.

After reaching its target destination, CAPSTONE will orbit this area around the Moon for at least six months to understand the characteristics of the orbit. The spacecraft will also demonstrate the reliability of innovative spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation solutions as well as communication capabilities with Earth.