NASA reestablishes communication with new lunar spacecraft after brief blackout

An artistic rendering of CAPSTONE at the Moon. | Image: NASA/Daniel RutterUpdate July 6th, 11:45AM ET: On Wednesday morning, NASA announced that the mission team had reestablished contact with CAPSTONE. Our original story about the communications blackout that occurred after spacecraft separation continues below.
NASA is having trouble establishing contact with its new CAPSTONE spacecraft, a tiny probe that just launched from Earth to test out a new orbit around the Moon. Because of these communication issues, NASA had to delay a planned maneuver of the vehicle that would help refine its path to deep space. The agency is still trying to reestablish contact.
CAPSTONE is the first mission of NASA’s Artemis program, the agency’s efforts to eventually send humans back to the Moon. As part of this lunar return,…

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