WELLINGTON:As part of a historic mission to send people back to the Moon, NASA launched a nanosatellite on Tuesday that was no larger than a microwave into space.
A rocket carrying the tiny CAPSTONE module successfully launched from New Zealand’s eastern Mahia Peninsula amid a loud explosion and a wave of burning propellant.
“We’ve taken off!” After the launch at 9:55 GMT, which Bradley Smith, the director of launch services for Nasa, called “absolutely outstanding,” Nasa released a statement. He declared, “This amazing crew has launched CAPSTONE on a ballistic trajectory to the lunar orbit.”
If all goes well, CAPSTONE will be able to launch novel “near rectilinear halo orbits” around the Moon in four months.
