
Microwave-size spacecraft will launch to test new orbit between Earth and the moon
CNN
A 55-pound spacecraft known as CAPSTONE, or the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, is launching on Tuesday. The CubeSat will act as a pathfinder for Gateway, an orbiting lunar outpost astronauts will use to reach the moon.
The miniscule satellite, called a CubeSat, is about the size of a microwave oven and weighs just 55 pounds (25 kilograms), but it will be the first to test out a unique, elliptical lunar orbit. The CubeSat will act as a pathfinder for Gateway, an orbiting lunar outpost that will serve as a way station between Earth and the moon for astronauts.
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