Moon Mission

CAPSTONE in orbit near the Moon: Once released from Rocket Lab’s Photon satellite bus, CAPSTONE will use its propulsion system to travel for approximately three months before entering into orbit around the Moon. Credit: Illustration by NASA/Daniel Rutter Today (June 28, 2022) Rocket Lab launched a CubeSat on a historic…

NASA’s tiny CAPSTONE spacecraft has begun its long, history-making journey to the moon. The 55-pound (25 kilograms) cubesat launched today (June 28) atop a Rocket Lab Electron booster, which lifted off from the company’s Launch Complex 1 on the Māhia Peninsula of New Zealand at 5:55 a.m. EDT (0955 GMT;…

As a science writer, I'm very familiar with the unmatched excitement of musing about the moon. Honestly, I even feel awe while writing about the tiniest lunar update.  A headline like "The Moon Might Have a Trace of Something That Could Potentially Be Water But Probably Not" will do it…

NASA’s CubeSat designed to test a unique lunar orbit is safely in space and on the first leg of its journey to the Moon...Read More

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1B on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand carrying NASA’s small CAPSTONE mission to the moon. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. NASA broadcast Clean feed Rocket Lab’s live video webcast begins approximately 50…

In a few years, if all goes well, NASA astronauts will ride to the moon aboard an Orion capsule, an 8.5-ton shelter that fills up a large room. But on the other end of the size spectrum—yet, in many ways, no less important to those lunar exploration goals—sits a spacecraft…

NASA will hold a media teleconference at 11 a.m. EDT Friday, June 24, to discuss next steps for the Artemis I mission with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida...Read More

EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated June 23 with additional information and NASA spokesperson quotes. NASA’s Artemis 1 moon rocket on Launch Complex 39B earlier this month. Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky Forgoing another countdown rehearsal, NASA plans to return the first Space Launch System rocket to its assembly hangar at the Kennedy Space Center next…

(CNN)The Artemis I mega moon rocket has been fully fueled for the first time. The fourth attempt of a final prelaunch test started on Saturday and the rocket tanks were filled on Monday. The crucial test, known as the wet dress rehearsal, simulates every stage of launch without the rocket…

Enlarge / A rendering of SpaceX's Starship lander on the surface of the Moon. NASA For several years now, NASA has publicly discussed the initial phase of its Artemis Moon program. These first three missions, to be conducted over the next four or five years, are steps toward establishing a…