WASHINGTON (AP) – NASA said Tuesday it has lost contact with a $ 32.7 million spacecraft headed to the moon to test an unbalanced lunar orbit, but the agency’s engineers hope to be able to fix the problem.
After a successful communication and a second partial on Monday, the space agency said it could no longer communicate with the spacecraft called Capstone. Engineers are trying to find the cause of the falling communications and are optimistic they can fix it, NASA spokeswoman Sarah Frazier said Tuesday.
The spacecraft, which launched from New Zealand on June 28, had spent almost a week in Earth orbit and had successfully launched on its way to the moon, when contact was lost, said Frazier.
The 55-pound satellite is the size of a microwave oven and will be the first spacecraft to test this oval orbit, which is where NASA wants to mount its advanced Gateway site. The gateway would serve as a meeting point for astronauts before descending to the lunar surface.
The orbit balances the gravities of the Earth and the Moon and therefore requires few maneuvers and therefore fuel and allows the satellite, or a space station, to remain in constant contact with the Earth.
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