NASA's CAPSTONE mission has launched to the moon.
The small 59-foot-tall spacecraft carrying capstone lifted off from a launchpad along the eastern coast of New Zealand lifted shortly before 6 a.m. Eastern.
It is the first to head to the moon in a year.
The spacecraft will study a specific orbit where NASA plans to build a small space station for astronauts to stop at before and after going to the moon's surface.
Although the mission is gathering information for NASA, it is owned and operated by a private company called Advanced Space, which is based in Westminster, Colorado.
CAPSTONE is expected to take four months to reach the moon and will then spend six months in orbit for testing.
