India, April 3 -- More than five decades after humans last travelled beyond Earth's orbit, NASA on Wednesday launched astronauts around the Moon as part of the Artemis II mission. The launch took place within its scheduled window between 6.24 pm ET and 8.24 pm ET from the Kennedy Space Center.

(Also read: NASA launches Artemis II, first crewed Moon mission in over 50 years)

A powerful rocket is carrying four astronauts, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, on a 10 day journey around the Moon before returning to Earth. While the crew will not land on the lunar surface, the mission marks a significant step towards future human landings.

As millions watched the launch from the ground, one airline passenger experi...