Tag: AV-078

The payload fairing of InSight’s Atlas 5 launcher was closed around the spacecraft April 16. Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing Now cocooned inside a heat shield and the nose shroud of an Atlas 5 rocket that will send it to Mars, NASA’s InSight lander is awaiting launch May 5 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.…

Artist’s concept of the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on its launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Credit: NASA The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket carrying NASA’s InSight lander toward Mars will have a roughly two-hour predawn launch window each day from May 5 through June 8 to boost the science…

File photo of a payload being lifted atop an Atlas 5 rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base before a previous mission. Credit: United Launch Alliance Ground crews at Vandenberg Air Force Base on California’s Central Coast hoisted NASA’s InSight Mars lander atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket Monday, kicking off nearly two weeks…

InSight’s heat shield (left) will soon be re-installed on the Mars lander (right) in preparation for launch May 5 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Credit: Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now NASA’s InSight Mars lander will be buttoned up for launch in the coming weeks at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, in preparation for its hoisting…

The Atlas 5’s first stage booster for the InSight mission arrives at Space Launch Complex 3-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin Ground crews at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California raised a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on its launch pad earlier this month in preparation for liftoff May 5 with…