Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Artwork depicts CAPSTONE spacecraft in a near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) around the moon.
Credit: NASA/Advanced Space

Rocket Lab is slated to launch in May a pathfinding cubesat mission that supports NASA’s Artemis return-to-the moon program.

The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment — mercifully called CAPSTONE for short — tips the scales at a modest 55-pounds. This microwave-oven sized spacecraft will be lofted from New Zealand aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket and the launch provider’s Lunar Photon upper stage.

Jeffrey Parker, chief technology officer of Advanced Space (left) explains the CAPSTONE mission to U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper over a full-size model of the spacecraft.
Credit: Advanced Space/Jason Johnson

The launch window is between May 3-May 15.

For more details on this important mission, go to my new Space.com story — “Little CAPSTONE cubesat ready to launch on big moon mission next month” – at:

https://www.space.com/capstone-cubesat-moon-mission-launch-may