Contact restored with NASA spacecraft headed to lunar orbit

NASA said Wednesday that contact has been restored with its US$32.7 million spacecraft headed to the moon to test out a lopsided lunar orbit.
Contact was lost after one successful communication and a second partial one on Monday, after the spacecraft left Earth's orbit on its way to the moon, the space agency said.
The spacecraft spent nearly a week circling the globe after launching from New Zealand on June 28.
According to NASA, data shows “the spacecraft is in good health and operated safely on its own while it was out of contact with Earth.” The cause of the communications drop-off is under investigation.
The 55-pound satellite is the size of a microwave oven and will be the first spacecraft to try out this oval orbit, which is where NASA wants to put its Gateway outpost. Gateway would serve as a staging point for astronauts before they descend to the lunar surface.
The orbit balances the gravities of Earth and the moon and so requires little maneuvering and therefore fuel and allows the satellite - or a space station - to stay in constant contact with Earth.
RISKIN REPORTS
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING | Canada's inflation rate slows to 7.6 per cent in July as gas prices fall
Canada's year-over-year inflation rate slowed to 7.6 per cent in July, with the deceleration largely driven by a decline in gas prices. The inflation rate hit a nearly 40-year-high of 8.1 per cent in June, but economists were widely expecting inflation to have since slowed.

OPINION | Economists are forecasting a recession, how should you prepare?
The next time the Bank of Canada raises interest rates on the scheduled date of September 7, 2022, it could potentially trigger a recession. Although there may be a chance that we don’t enter into a recession and the BoC is still hoping for a soft landing, it’s best to be prepared. Contributor Christopher Liew explains how.
Blasts, fire hits military depot in Russian-annexed Crimea
Massive explosions and fires hit a military depot in Russia-annexed Crimea on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of more than 3,000 people, the second time in recent days that the Ukraine war's focus has turned to the peninsula.
One in four border officers witnessed discrimination by colleagues: internal report
One-quarter of front line employees surveyed at Canada's border agency said they had directly witnessed a colleague discriminate against a traveller in the previous two years.
Minister asks Canadians not to fake travel plans to skip passport application lines
Minister of Families, Children and Social Development of Canada Karina Gould is discouraging people from making fake travel plans just to skip the line of those waiting for passports.
N.S. shooting inquiry: MPs to hear more testimony about alleged political meddling
Two of the people behind an accusation of political interference in the investigation of the April 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia will be before a House of Commons committee Tuesday.
Green Canadian hydrogen not an immediate solution to Germany's energy worries
Some energy experts warn a deal to sell Canadian hydrogen to Germany will serve as only a small, far-off and expensive part of the solution to Europe's energy crisis.
Canadians favour metric system despite often using imperial measurements: poll
While many Canadians don’t support moving away from the metric system of measurement, many continue to use imperial measurements in their daily lives, according to a recent online poll.
Medical investigator rules Baldwin set shooting an accident
The fatal film-set shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin last year was an accident, according to a determination made by New Mexico's Office of the Medical Investigator following the completion of an autopsy and a review of law enforcement reports. The medical investigator's report was made public Monday by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office along with numerous reports from the FBI on the revolver and ammunition that were collected following the shooting.