Atlas V Launch of InSight Mars Lander

NASA's InSight Mars lander is now cruising to the Red Planet.

The spacecraft began its 205-day, 301-million-mile (485 million kilometers) journey to Mars by launching atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in southern California early Saturday morning (May 5). The 4:05 a.m. PDT (7:05 a.m. EDT, 1105 GMT) liftoff marked the first time in history that an interplanetary mission began from the U.S. West Coast.

About an hour and a half after it left the ground, the InSight spacecraft separated from the Atlas rocket's Centaur upper stage, beginning its trip to Mars.