The historic Artemis II mission has launched, carrying the first crewed mission to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
On Wednesday afternoon, the four astronauts – three Americans and one Canadian – donned their orange spacesuits and headed to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They were seen smiling and waving to a crowd of well-wishers.
The launch took place at 6:35 p.m. Eastern Time.
The crew will set out on a 10-day voyage that will take them around the far side of the moon and back to Earth. While they will not land on the lunar surface, Nasa hopes that the mission will play a key role in helping establish a permanent settlement on the moon.
The launch comes after weeks of fuel leaks and other issues that caused a previous liftoff attempt to be cancelled late. After that, the rocket had to be rolled back from its launchpad.
