The InSight Lander will land on Mars on November 26 of this year. Once there, it will spend approximately two Earth years gathering data on the interior of the Red Planet. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) As early as 4:05 a.m. PDT on May 5th, those on the West Coast of the United States will have the chance to witness an interplanetary launch for the first time. The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will carry NASA’s InSight spacecraft into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, near Lompoc, California. InSight, which stands for Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a lander bound for the Elysium Planitia region in Mars’s Northern hemisphere. There, it will gather data on the crust, mantle and core of Mars. It will also listen for tectonic activity and meteorite impacts. Though the launch represents the beginning of InSight’s expedition, in another way, it is the end of a long journey. NASA delayed the lander’s original launch in 2016 after discovering a problem with a key instrument. This second chance at the mission gives planetary scientists another opportunity to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
A Look Inside Mars
