Third time became the charm for 's attempt to launch the Artemis I mission - the rocket was successfully launched just before 2.00am EST (7:00am GMT) Wednesday morning on a 25-day mission around the moon.
The world's most powerful rocket took off from the Kennedy Space Center in  after NASA engineers quashed two earlier attempts at lift off.
Artemis sees an uncrewed Orion capsule circle the Earth's natural satellite and return to our planet after a 1.3 miIlion-mile voyage.
This is a historic launch that signals the first stage of the US space agency's goal to return people to the lunar surface for the first time in half a century.
If successful, the mission will be followed by a human trip around the moon in 2024 and could lead to the first woman and first person of colour following in Neil Armstrong's footsteps the year after.
The stumbling block to this has been the with its maiden launch date repeatedly pushed back since August. 
However, after enduring fuel leak concerns, engine issues and escaping the clutches of not one but two hurricanes, the $4 billion (£3.5 billion) Space Launch System (SLS) has finally blasted into orbit.
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Third time became the charm for NASA 's attempt to launch the Artemis I mission - the rocket was successfully launched just before 2.00am EST Wednesday morning on a 25-day mission around the moon
Artemis is a historic launch that signals the first stage of NASA's goal to return people to the lunar surface for the first time in half a century
The plan is to return humans to the moon on Artemis III by 2025 and ultimately to build a permanent lunar outpost with a view to exploring deeper into the cosmos
 The stumbling block to this has been the numerous delays NASA's new mega moon rocket has faced, with its maiden launch date repeatedly pushed back since August
Space fans gather to watch as the Artemis I unmanned lunar rocket lifts off from launch pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA
Despite its ultimate success, this launch was not without drama, as in the final few hours before lift-off, a 'red team' of engineers was sent out to the launch pad to tighten some bolts that would prevent a fuel leak
Despite its ultimate success, this launch was not without drama, as in the final few hours before lift-off, a 'red team' of engineers was sent out to the launch pad to tighten some bolts and stop a fuel leak.
However, at 01:47 EST (06:47 GMT), the rocket's four main R-25 engines and two boosters exploded into life, pushing the 32-storey rocket into the sky over Florida with 8.8 million pounds of thrust.
'We rise together, back to the moon and beyond,' said NASA's official commentator as the rocket took off. 
About ten minutes later, the engines of the SLS rocket powered off and the core stage separated, as Artemis entered the Earth's orbit.
Then, at 03:42 (08:42 GMT), NASA announced that Orion had completed its 20-minute 'trans-lunar injection manoeuvre' that accelerated it to more than 22,600 mph (36,370 kph) and propelled it towards the moon.
Artemis' launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson told her cheering colleagues: 'You are part of a first - it doesn't come along very often, once in a career, maybe.
'We are all part of something incredibly special: the first launch of Artemis.

The first step in returning our country to the moon and on to Mars. What you have done today will inspire generations to come.'
Ms Blackwell-Thompson added in a statement: 'On behalf of all the men and women across our great nation who have worked to bring this hardware together to make this day possible, and for the Artemis generation, this is for you.'
NASA is due to release breathtaking images taken of Earth from the Orion spacecraft at about 10am local time (3pm GMT).
At 03:42 (08:42 GMT), NASA announced that Orion had completed its 20-minute 'trans-lunar injection manoeuvre' that accelerated it to more than 22,600 mph (36,370 kph) and propelled it towards the moon
Artemis' launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said: 'On behalf of all the men and women across our great nation who have worked to bring this hardware together to make this day possible, and for the Artemis generation, this is for you'
NASA's new mega moon rocket was dogged by a multitude of delays that repeatedly pushed back its historic maiden launch
After enduring fuel leak concerns, engine issues and escaping the clutches of not one but two hurricanes, the $4 billion (£3.5 billion) Space Launch System (SLS) has finally blasted into orbit 
Artemis sees an Orion spacecraft circle the Earth's natural satellite and return to our planet after a 1.3 miIlion-mile voyage 
An estimated 100,000 people gathered along the beaches and roads outside the Kennedy Space Center to witness lift-off early this morning.
This included 55-year-old Todd Garland, who drove 900 miles from Frankfurt, Kentucky to Cocoa Beach.
Wearing an Artemis T-shirt, he told AFP: 'This has been an experience I've looked forward to all my life.
'My first memory is my mother waking me up at two-years-old to watch the Moon landing and I've always wanted to see a launch ever since, and now I have.'
Kerry Warner, 59, a grandmother and semi-retired educator who lives in Florida, added the launch was 'part of America and what America is all about.'
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Looking forward, NASA's plan is to return human boots to the moon on Artemis III by 2025 and ultimately to build a permanent lunar outpost with a view to exploring deeper into the cosmos. 
It would be the first time people have walked on the moon since 1972. 
Providing it is all successful, another flight is due to follow in 2024 - this time with astronauts on board - before human boots once again grace the lunar surface a year later as part of NASA's ambitious $93 billion (£63 billion) Artemis programme.
Here MailOnline answers everything you need to know about the Artemis I mission, including how you can track the flight live.
  How can I follow Artemis?

An online tool is allowing people to monitor the Orion spacecraft as it travels to the moon and back again during the 25-day voyage.
The  (AROW) provides imagery, data and all the latest news about the launch, and lets space fans track it in real-time.
Data collected by sensors on Orion and sent to the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston is used to provide real-time information - like distance from Earth and the moon - about the mission.
Tracking: The US space agency has revealed a way for the public to track the Orion spacecraft in real time. The Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW) will provide imagery, data and all the latest news
NASA also revealed that it will make Orion's location data freely available for 'data lovers, artists, and creatives to make their own tracking app, data visualisation, or anything else they envision'
NASA also revealed that it will make Orion's location data freely available for 'data lovers, artists, and creatives to make their own tracking app, data visualisation, or anything else they envision.'
It added that while AROW was developed for the upcoming Artemis missions, it may use the same technology to offer visualisations of other space missions in the future.
Britain has an involvement in tracking Artemis I - the Goonhilly Earth Station in Cornwall will track the uncrewed Orion capsule and provide communications support for the mission.
Goonhilly is the world's only commercial deep space ground station. In 1969 the site was responsible for distributing live satellite feeds of the Apollo moon landing to people around the world.
Its GHY-6 deep space antenna will receive radio signals from the spacecraft over the six-week duration of its mission.
  What does the mission involve?
Named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology, Artemis signifies the modern incarnation of the US space agency's Apollo programme, which sent astronauts to the moon for the first time.
At 322ft (98m) — rising 23 storeys above the launch-pad at Cape Canaveral — the rocket is slightly shorter than the Apollo Saturn V that took astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s.
However, its four RS-25 engines (the same as those used on the Space Shuttle), powered by both solid and liquid fuel, provide greater thrust and a far higher top speed of up to 24,500 mph.

(The Saturn V rockets used only liquid fuel because the technology had not yet advanced sufficiently for anything else).
The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will carry the Orion capsule to space for its 25-and-a-half day journey around the moon and then a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on December 11
The Artemis 1 mission will see an uncrewed Orion spacecraft circle the moon and return to Earth after a 25-day, apartment renovation tips 1.3 miIlion-mile voyage
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It needs that power to push a large spacecraft out of low-Earth orbit to the moon some 240,000 miles away.
The journey takes a few days and Orion will get as close as 60 miles (100km) from the lunar surface before firing its thrusters to move into orbit up to 40,000 miles (64,000km) away.
Ten shoebox-size secondary payloads, called CubeSats, are hitching a ride to space on Artemis I, while several other investigations are flying inside the Orion spacecraft during the flight test.
Each of the payloads will perform science and technology experiments in deep space, expanding our understanding of lunar science, technology developments, and deep space radiation. 
During re-entry, Orion will emerge into the Earth's atmosphere at 25,000mph before splashing down off the California coast.
Artemis I is designed to show that the SLS rocket and Orion capsule are ready to carry astronauts for Artemis II, and ultimately the Artemis III mission to return humans to the moon.
It would mark the first time people have set foot on the lunar surface since December 1972, when the American astronaut Gene Cernan scratched his young daughter's initials in the dust next to his footprints before heading home.