NASA launches InSight spacecraft to Mars from Vandenberg Air Force Base

KABC

Saturday, May 5, 2018

A robotic geologist armed with a hammer and quake monitor rocketed toward Mars on Saturday, aiming to land on the red planet and explore its mysterious insides.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (KABC) -- NASA on Saturday morning successfully launched the Mars Insight lander from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County, kicking off a 6 1/2-month journey to the red planet.

"This is a big day. We're going back to Mars!" NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said following liftoff. "This is an extraordinary mission with a whole host of firsts."
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The InSight lander will dig nearly 16 feet into the planet and measure its temperature. The spacecraft will also use a seismometer to record the magnitude of so-called marsquakes.

"That's the real payoff of this whole mission and that's still lying ahead of us," said the mission's chief scientist, Bruce Banerdt of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

As the rocket lifted off from a fog-shrouded Vandenberg at 4:05 a.m., several of the mission's scientists and their family members watched from a viewing room at JPL.

"It was exhilarating," said Joan Weisner of Covina. "You're thinking of the anticipation of it all and (then) there it is and it's going on. ... It was extremely exciting when we got to go outside and we got to see the spacecraft go up in the air. You're seeing it visually and it's just tremendous."
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The rocket, which is expected to land on Mars on Nov. 26, was visible for miles along the Southern California coast.

This is a view of Mariner 4 in flight attitude on July 13, 1965.none

The Mariner 9 is depicted in this artist's concept going into orbit around Mars on Nov. 13, 1971.none

A partial lifting of the dust storm enabled the Mariner 9 to record this view of the surface from an elevation of 4,000 miles on Dec. 17, 1971.none

This is the first color photograph of the surface of the planet Mars, taken by the Viking 1 probe in 1976.none

This shows the red Martian landscape and part of the Lander itself. Viking 2 landed in the Utopia Planitia region of Mars in 1976.none

The surface of the planet Mars is shown in this photo taken by the Viking orbiter in the late 1970s. The red arrow points to a crater near the Mars Pathfinder's 1997 location.none

These photos, taken of the planet Mars by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1996, show a huge dust storm churning near the edge of the north polar cap.none

Clouds in the sky are shown over the planet Mars in an undated image taken by the Mars Pathfinder and shown during a briefing on NASA television in 1997.none

This photo was part of a series showing a panorama of the surface of the planet Mars released from NASA television in 1997.none

This was one of the first images received by the NASA Pathfinder, which landed on Mars on July 4, 1997.none

This March 13, 1999, image is a wide-angle view of the Martian north polar cap as it appeared to the Mars Orbiter Camera.none

Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this stunning sunset on the red planet on May 19, 2005.none

Mars' own Grand Canyon, Valles Marineris, is shown on the surface of the planet in this composite image made aboard NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft in 2006.none

An image released by NASA in 2009 shows the Endeavor crater on Mars viewed from the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.none

This 2012 ''postcard,'' taken by NASA's Curiosity rover, shows the base of Mount Sharp, the rover's eventual science destination.none

This image sent by NASA's Opportunity rover on Jan. 7, 2015 shows a view from atop a Martian hill.none

Scientists believe these 100 meter-long streaks called recurring slope lineae, shown here on a false color image, are strong evidence of flowing water on Mars.none

Besides InSight, the United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket gave a lift to a pair of mini test satellites, or CubeSats, that are trailing InSight to Mars to serve as a potential communication link. Nicknamed WALL-E and EVE from the 2008 animated movie, the twin briefcase-size spacecraft popped off the rocket's upper stage in hot pursuit of InSight, as elated launch controllers applauded and shook hands following the morning's success.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NASA sending satellites named after Pixar's WALL-E and EVE to Mars

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