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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
Lifestyle
Asharq Al-Awsat

NASA Satellite Breaks from Orbit around Earth, Heads to Moon

The International Space Station -- seen here on August 26, 2020 -- performed a maneuver on September 22, 2020 to ensure it gets out of the way of a piece of space debris | AFP

A satellite the size of a microwave oven successfully broke free from its orbit around Earth on Monday and is headed toward the moon, the latest step in NASA's plan to land astronauts on the lunar surface again.

It's been an unusual journey already for the Capstone satellite. It was launched six days ago from New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula by the company Rocket Lab in one of their small Electron rockets. It will take another four months for the satellite to reach the moon, as it cruises along using minimal energy, The Associated Press said.

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