As a crew of astronauts embarked on a journey to the Moon for the first time in 44 years, one lucky airline passenger captured a remarkable view of the momentous launch. Nasa‘s Artemis II mission blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Wednesday evening, marking the first crewed mission to the Moon since 1972.

A video posted on social media showed the launch from the breathtaking perspective of an aircraft soaring over Florida. The incredible footage, shared on TikTok by Kate McCuistion, captures the view through the window of a Delta Air Lines flight as the rocket lifted off at 6.35pm local time, or 10.35pm in the UK. The clip shows the 322-foot rocket, identifiable by the blazing plume at its base, leaving a lengthy vapour trail in its wake as it surges to speeds of up to 17,000mph.

The footage features the overlaid caption: “POV: the pilot says look out your window”, followed by: “Astronauts of Artemis II on their way to the Moon.”

From the aircraft’s altitude, the rocket’s curved trajectory is clearly visible. Space missions launch in this fashion to enable the craft to harness gravity rather than fuel to build speed, according to the BBC Sky at Night magazine.

The four-strong astronaut crew spent the first 25 hours of the mission orbiting the Earth, before the rockets on the Orion spacecraft – officially known as a translunar injection burn – ignited to propel them out of orbit and towards the Moon. Speaking this morning, Nasa deputy associate administrator Lori Glaze said the firing procedure had gone off without a hitch. She said: “Ladies and gentlemen, I am so, so excited to be able to tell you that for the first time since 1972 during Apollo 17, human beings have left Earth orbit.”

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen revealed that the crew, which also includes Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, had been pressed against the windows to take in the “phenomenal” view, reports the Mirror. He said: “Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of, and it’s your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the Moon.”

Nasa confirmed the firing places the crew “in a free return trajectory”, allowing them to harness the Moon’s gravitational pull for the voyage home. Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman posted on X: “Nominal translunar injection burn complete. The Artemis II crew is officially on the way to the Moon.

“America is back in the business of sending astronauts to the Moon. This time, farther than ever before.”

Nasa stated that Orion’s main engine, which burned for five minutes and 50 seconds, delivers up to 6,000lb of thrust – sufficient to accelerate a car from zero to 60mph in approximately 2.7 seconds. The astronauts also received a welcome boost when they successfully resolved issues with the toilet, while ground controllers managed to raise the cabin temperature.

The Goonhilly Earth Station, near Helston in Cornwall, is assisting with tracking the flight. Orion will travel roughly 4,000 miles past the Moon before commencing a lunar flyby on Monday, which will take the crew approximately 252,000 miles (406,000 kilometres) into space ahead of their return to Earth.

This will mark the greatest distance from Earth any human has ever ventured. The existing record for the most distant spaceflight stands at roughly 248,000 miles, set by crew members of the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970, which encountered technical difficulties.

While the astronauts will not land on the Moon, the Artemis II mission clears the path for a future lunar touchdown and establishes the groundwork to dispatch a crew to Mars.

The mission had previously been delayed by two months due to hydrogen fuel leaks and blocked helium lines. NASA is aiming to return a crew to the lunar surface by 2028, ahead of China’s anticipated landing around 2030.