5/5/2018 Launch | InSight - NASA Mars

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Launch Status Quick Facts FAQ For Media Gallery

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Launched: May 5, 2018

(4:05 a.m. PT/7:05 a.m.
ET)
Launch Atlas V-401
Vehicle:

About InSight's Launch

Location:
Vandenberg Air Force
Base, California
Launch More Quick Facts ››

InSight is scheduled to launch under

Related Links:
pre-dawn skies from Vandenberg Air
Force Base on the central coast of
California in May 2018. Watch Online ››
Watch in Person ››
The mission's launch period is May 5
through June 8, 2018, with daily launch For Media ››
windows that last two hours per day. Gallery ››
Launch opportunities are set five
minutes apart during each date's Mission Overview ››
launch window. The first opportunity Fact Sheet ››
begins at 4:05 a.m. Pacific Standard
Time on May 5. Press Kit: Online | (PDF, 6.69 MB)

InSight will launch from Launch

Complex 3 and ride atop an Atlas V-401
rocket provided by United Launch Follow the Mission
Alliance, Centennial Colorado, a joint
venture of Boeing Co. and Lockheed
Martin Corp.

The Atlas V is one of the biggest rockets

available for interplanetary flight. This is
the same type of rocket that launched
the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in
2005.

Why InSight Launches

from California
SHARES

https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/mission/timeline/launch/ 1/3
5/5/2018 Launch | InSight - NASA Mars

InSight will be the first mission to

another planet to leave Earth from
Vandenberg Air Force Base. Missions to
other planets normally launch from
NASA's Kennedy Space Center and fly
east, over water. That's because
launching towards the east adds the
momentum of Earth's eastward
rotation to the launch vehicle's own
thrust. But the Atlas V-401 is powerful
enough to fly south towards the sea
from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Besides, Vandenberg Air Force Base is
more available at this time to
accommodate InSight's five-week
launch window.

The launch is only the beginning; the

trip to Mars takes about six months.
The journey is about 301 million miles
(485 million kilometers).

No matter at what particular time and

date InSight launches during its launch
window, its date with Mars is set for
Nov. 26, 2018.

Follow the Mission

SHARES

https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/mission/timeline/launch/ 2/3
5/5/2018 Launch | InSight - NASA Mars

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