https://currently.att.yahoo.com/finance/news/nasa-moon-probe-satellite-no-communication-192656053.html

This initial mission was designed to pave the way for subsequent launches that would eventually lead to a manned lunar orbiting station to support a permanent US presence on the moon.

I have a bad feeling about this. CAPSTONE is just a pathfinder, and no doubt these problems will be straightened out, I’ve always felt our next manned effort should not be on the Moon, but a new Space Station optimized as a staging area for future deep Solar System missions, a Lagrangian outpost, the Belt, or even Mars. I say leave the Moon to China.

No, there’s nothing wrong with going to the Moon again, there are good reasons for going there, but we should be leapfrogging ahead of the competition, not trying to catch up with it. A manned effort to where no man has gone before would not only be more likely to produce a real breakthrough, but also inspire future efforts as new technology comes online. From the point of view of the human race as a spacefaring species, China’s Moon program will develop resources, build infrastructure and provide experience, but the real prize is out in the cold and dark, not at the bottom of another gravity well.