Countdown Underway for InSight

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with a single-engine Centaur upper stage stands ready to boost NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, Mars lander from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight will study the planet’s interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. InSight will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. InSight is slated to launch at 4:05 a.m. PDT (7:05 a.m. EDT).

Photo credit: NASA