WASHINGTON (AP) — NASA said Tuesday it has lost contact with a $32.7 million spacecraft headed to the moon to test a warped lunar orbit, but agency engineers hope they can fix the problem.
After one successful communication and a second partial one 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 communications outage and are optimistic they can fix it, NASA spokeswoman Sarah Fraser said Tuesday.
The spacecraft, which launched from New Zealand on June 28, had spent nearly a week in Earth orbit and was successfully launched on its way to the moon when contact was lost, Fraser said.
The 55-pound satellite is about the size of a microwave oven and will be the first spacecraft to test this oval orbit, where NASA wants to place its Gateway outpost. Gateway will serve as a starting point for astronauts before landing on the lunar surface.
The orbit balances the gravity of the Earth and the Moon and therefore requires little maneuvering and therefore fuel and allows the satellite – or space station – to remain in constant contact with Earth.
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