Communication was lost with the spacecraft on its way to test the orbit of the moon

On Tuesday, NASA said it had lost contact with a $32.7 million spacecraft that was headed to the Moon to test an unbalanced lunar orbit, but the agency’s engineers hope they can fix the problem.

After one successful and another partial contact on Monday, the space agency He said he could no longer communicate with the spacecraft called Capstone. NASA spokeswoman Sarah Frazier said Tuesday that engineers are trying to figure out the cause of the communications outage and are optimistic they will be able to fix it.

The spacecraft, which launched from New Zealand on June 28, spent nearly a week in Earth orbit and successfully launched on its way to the moon, when communication was lost, Frazier said.

The 55-pound satellite is the size of a microwave oven and will be the first spacecraft to experience this elliptical orbit, as NASA wants to organize its gateway position. The portal will serve as a starting point for the astronauts before they descend to The surface of the moon.

The orbit balances the gravity of the Earth and the Moon and therefore requires little maneuverability and thus fuel and allows the satellite – or space stationTo stay in constant contact with the Earth.

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