A rocket takes a camera to the Moon

Engineers spent months calculating the exact trajectorytrajectorythe curved path an object follows as it travels through space needed to loop around the Moon and settle into a stable orbit without burning extra fuel to correct course later.

The camera will orbit roughly 100 kilometres above the surface, close enough to pick out boulders and small craters that earlier missions could only see as blurry patches.

Mission scientists are most interested in a handful of shadowed craters near the Moon's south pole that never receive direct sunlight, where earlier data suggests ice might be hiding.

The first images are expected within two weeks of the spacecraft settling into orbit, and mission control plans to release them publicly rather than keeping them for research use only.

Keep reading this story

The rest of this story, both challenges and a shelf of your own come with a subscription.