Mission Control runs your Moonshot one quarter at a time. Each quarter is a cycle, with a quick weekly pulse, a check-in at the end of each month and a review to close it out. The rhythm stays light, so you spend more time on the work than on reporting about it.
How a cycle works
- A cycle is a calendar quarter in your organisation's time zone: January to March, April to June, July to September, or October to December.
- Nobody starts or stops a cycle. Your first one begins the quarter you set the Moonshot, and they roll over by themselves until the Moonshot lands or is aborted.
- At the end of a quarter, every live Mission carries into the next one.
- The cycle card on the flight path shows where you are, for example "Cycle 2 · Q3 2026" and "Day 43 of 92, 49 days left", plus whatever's open now.
Answer the monthly check-in
Each month's check-in opens for the last 7 days of the month, so there are 3 a quarter. It opens early for a Mission whose evidence is all in.
- Open the Mission from Mission Control.
- In its cycle section, answer On track, or Scope changed and say what changes.
The Captain, the owner or an admin can answer. Answering again in the same month replaces the first answer.
Give your weekly pulse
If the Moonshot is run As a team (in Settings), everyone on a live Mission is asked for a pulse each week.
- On the cycle card, select Give your week N pulse.
- Score Energy, Workload and Morale from 1 to 5, and add a note if you like.
- Select Send my pulse. The button then reads Pulse given. To change your answer that week, open it again and select Update my pulse.
Everyone who can see the Moonshot sees the averages. Only the owner and admins see who said what. The pulse isn't asked for while a review is open, or when the Moonshot is run Solo.
Review the quarter
The review opens for the last 2 weeks of the quarter and stays open for the first 2 weeks of the next. It can open earlier once every Mission's evidence is in and this month's check-in is done.
- On the cycle card, select Review followed by the quarter, for example Review Q3 2026. The button shows the last day you can do it.
- Mark the wins: the Missions achieved, the projects completed and who did them.
- Reflect: the owner answers 4 questions (the number, the work, the blockers and the energy) and scores how much energy the quarter left them with.
- Through this cycle's lens: a few more questions, different each cycle.
- Select Save draft to come back later, or Sign and submit to sign the reflection.
- Fill the free slots: promote the next Mission, or leave a slot open.
Once signed, everyone who can see the Moonshot can read the reflection. Its text doesn't change after that, but its author can add a dated addendum. To look back over past quarters, select Cycle log on the cycle card.
Dates and reminders
- The Planner shows each quarter's check-ins, and the days the review opens and closes, as all-day entries such as "Q3 2026 check-in". If you've connected Google Calendar, they go into your "53 Degrees" calendar too.
- 53° reminds you when a check-in or review opens, when a pulse is due, and a week into the next quarter if the reflection still isn't signed.
- Only people who can see the Moonshot get these dates and reminders.
Celebrations
A project can close from anywhere, so 53° records the moment and plays it for the right people the next time they're in the app.
- A task closed in a Mission's project: a small toast for whoever closed it.
- A project closed in a live Mission: confetti for the Captain and everyone taking part. If it was the last linked project, the Captain and owner also get a toast.
- A Mission marked achieved: a bigger burst for its Captain, everyone taking part and the Moonshot's owner.
- A medal earned: a toast with the medal.
- The Moonshot lands: a full-screen Moon landing for everyone who can see it, and a banner on the dashboard for a week.
If several arrive at once, you'll see one summary toast. To turn confetti off, go to your profile preferences and switch off Confetti. The toasts still show.
Medals
Select Medals on the Moonshot header to see every medal and what you've earned. Each one rewards something that moves the number, never being busy.
| Medal | How it's earned |
|---|---|
| Ignition | A Moonshot set with a number, a date and a source |
| Countdown | The first Mission went live |
| Liftoff | The first project completed inside a Mission |
| Mission Achieved | The first Mission achieved |
| Waypoint | A Mission achieved, one for each |
| Clean Sweep | Every Mission live in a quarter's first 2 weeks achieved within it |
| Weekly Heartbeat | A project completed in a Mission every week of a quarter |
| Brave Call | A Mission aborted in the first half of a quarter, with a reason |
| Open Slot | A quarter run with a slot left open rather than filled |
| On the Record | Your first signed reflection |
| Captain's Log | Reflections signed 3 cycles running |
| Mission Control | The quarter's reflection signed while its review was open |
| Steady Hands | Every Captain gave their pulse every week of a quarter |
| Full Orbit | 4 quarters completed |
| Crew | Part of projects completed in 3 different Missions |
| Moon Landing | The Moonshot's number reached |