CAPSTONE is the first of NASA's missions that lay the groundwork to bring humans back to the moon for the first time since 1972. The probe is small — about the size of a microwave.
CAPSTONE —short for the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment — was launched to test the stability of a peculiar elliptical orbit around the moon.
CAPSTONE cannot reach the moon unless communications are restored, since its trajectory needs to be carefully adjusted as it travels.
NASA said in a second statement Tuesday that the first adjustment had been delayed, but that satellite had enough fuel to get back on track with the right direction.
The satellite gathered speed for about a week before its Rocket Lab launcher propelled it out of the Earth's orbit and the satellite successfully separated and deployed its solar panels.
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