Nasa’s Artemis II mission has taken off and the spacecraft is now in orbit around the Earth.
It will remain in orbit for the next 24 hours as the crew carries out checks – if all goes well it will get the green light to head to the Moon.
Wednesday night’s launch wasn’t all plain sailing – from pre-flight tech issues to “go for launch.”
“Great view,” said astronaut Reid Wiseman as the spacecraft was rising into the sky. “It is amazing to be at this altitude”, he later added.
The crew are “safe, secure and in great spirits”, a Nasa official says. They won’t land on the Moon during their 10-day mission, but plan to circle it, and could travel further from Earth than anyone has ever been before.
