NASA’s return to the Moon just began with a private satellite launch

NASA’s campaign to put astronauts on the Moon for the first time since 1972 kicked off with the launch of a private satellite early this morning.

The microwave-sized Capstone spacecraft, built by Advanced Space, was launched by Rocket Lab, which went public last year. The mission’s goal is to explore a type of orbit around both the Earth and the Moon that hasn’t been visited before, and demonstrate the ability to keep track of the spacecraft’s location there without assistance from the ground. Findings from the mission will allow the US space agency and its partners to put infrastructure in space for the kind of long-term lunar exploration intended to set this new Moon campaign apart from its historic predecessor, the Apollo program.

https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1541751013228421126

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