Artemis II blasts off into space after spectacular launch

Nasa's Artemis II mission has successfully taken off after a spectacular launch, and the spacecraft is now in orbit around the Earth.

The rocket launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the US, late on Wednesday night UK time.

It will remain in orbit around the Earth for the next 24 hours as the crew carries out checks.

If all goes well they will then get the green light to head to the Moon.

"Great view," said astronaut Reid Wiseman as the spacecraft was rising into the sky.

But it wasn't all plain sailing - there were some nail biting moments in the build up to launch, as the crew had issues with the 'Launch Abort System'.

This is the system that enables Nasa engineers to eject the astronauts and blow up the rocket if something goes wrong.

The countdown clock was held at 10 minutes while engineers resolved the problem – which they speedily did.

And at one point, the toilet's amber warning light was flashing. Luckily they were able to get that one resolved too.

"Artemis II, this is Launch Director – you are go for launch," the crew was told before the count down to blast off began again.

"We go for all humanity," Commander Reid Wiseman responded.

The rocket's four-person crew includes Nasa's mission captain Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, plus Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency.

Artemis II is the most powerful rocket that Nasa has ever built - and it needs to be, because it's sending these four astronauts 250,000 miles (400,000 km) away to the Moon.

The BBC's science editor Rebecca Morelle was at the scene of the launch and told us what it was like.

"It's not just what you can see and hear as the rocket lifts off. You can actually feel the force of it passing through your body."

The astronauts were boosted into space on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

The job of the SLS is to carry the Orion spacecraft - which sits at the top of the rocket with the astronauts onboard - to space.

The astronauts will spend 10 days in the Orion capsule, which is about 5m wide and 3m high.

The mission is the first human trip around the Moon since the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s.

The trip has been a long time coming - it had been held up due to a rocket fuel leak in February and a helium leak in March.

People all over the world watched the historic event.

In Mexico, children watched a live broadcast at an event organised by the US consulate and Artemis viewing parties were held all over the US.

US President Donald Trump congratulated the team at Nasa and the "brave astronauts".

He called the mission "quite something", saying the rocket will travel further than any manned rocket has ever flown.

"God bless those four," he added.