NASA's CAPSTONE satellite breaks from Earth's orbit and heads toward the Moon

NASA's plan to return humans to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years has taken another step forward. The CAPSTONE cubesat is on its way to the moon after breaking free of Earth's atmosphere.

A rocket from New Zealand was used to launch CAPSTONE. The path finding satellite set out toward the moon after six days of burn. It is a fairly slow trip. The moon will not be reached until November.

It will be the first time in history that CAPSTONE will be placed in a rectilinear near halo around the moon. The Gateway space station will provide support for long term lunar missions under the Artemis program. There will be living quarters for astronauts. It will not launch until at least 2024.

The Artemis 1 mission will be launched between August 23rd and September 6th. An uncrewed module will be sent to the moon to assess how the journey will affect the human body. In June, the agency ran a wet launch fueling test.