Paving the way for Gateway 🌙 The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) will launch in May to test an orbit around the Moon that has never been flown before. Operated by Advanced Space, the small satellite is undergoing final construction and will soon be shipped to its launch location in New Zealand. CAPSTONE will test a significantly elongated and halo-shaped orbit before arrival of Gateway, a next-generation space station that will provide access to the Moon and potentially beyond. By taking advantage of the precise points between the Earth and Moon where the gravity from both is balanced out, spacecraft traveling along this orbital path can save energy to maintain the orbit. In this image, systems engineer Rebecca Rogers takes dimension measurements of the spacecraft at Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc. in Irvine, California. Credit: NASA/Dominic Hart #Gateway #NASA #Artemis #CAPSTONE #Moon #LunarMission #STEM #Spac...