Having regained communications with CAPSTONE, engineers prepare for first mid-course burn
Engineers are now preparing CAPSTONE for its first first mid-course engine burn, slightly late due to a loss of communications during the past two days.
The spacecraft is in good health and functioning properly.
The CAPSTONE team is still actively working to fully establish the root cause of the issue. Ground-based testing suggests the issue was triggered during commissioning activities of the communications system. The team will continue to evaluate the data leading up to the communications issue and monitor CAPSTONE’s status.
If all goes well, that engine burn will occur as early as 11:30 am (Eastern) on July 7th.
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Engineers are now preparing CAPSTONE for its first first mid-course engine burn, slightly late due to a loss of communications during the past two days.
The spacecraft is in good health and functioning properly.
The CAPSTONE team is still actively working to fully establish the root cause of the issue. Ground-based testing suggests the issue was triggered during commissioning activities of the communications system. The team will continue to evaluate the data leading up to the communications issue and monitor CAPSTONE’s status.
If all goes well, that engine burn will occur as early as 11:30 am (Eastern) on July 7th.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
Another source.
https://advancedspace.com/capstone-06july22-update/
The recovery bodes well.
Let’s hope they find the cause.
What is to be done with the discarded upper stage?
I haven’t found a definitive answer on what is planned for the Lunar Photon stage, but the burns they did on that stage before releasing CAPSTONE all raised apogee while leaving perigee very low, so it’s orbit should decay back into the atmosphere relatively soon. I would be unsurprised if it can do one more burn to make that a controlled re-entry.
Whew. Glad that they got communications back. Hopefully they can find a cause.
sippin_bourbon Thanks for the link.
Advanced Space has a happy hour. “Informal Networking Happy Hour Events for the Space Community!”
Fix Capstone, time for a beer!
https://advancedspace.com/space-happy-hour-colorado/
It would be fun if Mr. Z dropped in on one of these and reported back to us. That would be real Space Journalism.
Found this:
https://twitter.com/akaschs/status/1544825502321573888
I do not know the source of the image. It is not from the press kit from RKLB.
However it implies that that the Photon stage (not the upper or 2nd stage) will continue in interplanetary space.
Peter Beck posted this last night.
https://twitter.com/Peter_J_Beck/status/1544820925559844864
It is already past the Moon.
The Photon is following the same trajectory as Capstone, likely Beck intends to put it into lunar orbit, it has the fuel and the solar panels to do this and continue functioning for some time.
Sounds like they know more now. Basically, there were two problems: an improperly formatted command sent up, and a flight software flaw.
“After a thorough review, teams have determined what led to CAPSTONE’s communications issue that began on July 4.
“During commissioning of NASA’s CAPSTONE (short for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) spacecraft, the Deep Space Network team noted inconsistent ranging data. While investigating this, the spacecraft operations team attempted to access diagnostic data on the spacecraft’s radio and sent an improperly formatted command that made the radio inoperable. The spacecraft fault detection system should have immediately rebooted the radio but did not because of a fault in the spacecraft flight software.
“CAPSTONE’s autonomous flight software system eventually cleared the fault and brought the spacecraft back into communication with the ground, allowing the team to implement recovery procedures and begin commanding the spacecraft again.
“While CAPSTONE was out of contact with Earth, the spacecraft autonomously maintained its orientation to keep its antenna pointed towards Earth and allow the solar panels to keep its battery charged. CAPSTONE also used its thrusters to perform a standard maneuver to dump excess momentum from its reaction wheels, which are internal wheels that help the spacecraft rotate and point itself.
“The mission operations team conducted CAPSTONE’s first trajectory correction maneuver at approximately 11:30 a.m. EDT today. Teams are currently reviewing the data to ensure the maneuver was successful, and an update will be provided later. This maneuver will more precisely target the spacecraft’s transfer orbit to the Moon.”
Link: https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2022/07/07/mission-team-determines-cause-of-communications-issues-for-nasas-capstone/
Richard M: Um, I posted a link to this story yesterday at 10:39 am, including much of the same quote. No need to repost it today.
That is a sophisticated satellite for its size. A 3U cubesat is the size of a loaf of bread, and this one, CAPSTONE, is a 12U size — four loaves put together, 8″x8″x12″ (20cm square by 30cm). Clearly, the market for components for cubesats is maturing.