Last updated May 24, 2018 at 12:30 pm
NASA’s InSight mission to Mars launched last week in heavy fog, providing the scene for some other-worldly photos.
The mobile service tower at SLC-3 is rolled back to reveal the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas-V rocket with the NASA InSight spacecraft onboard, Friday, May 4, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the “inner space” of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Insight launched on an Atlas-V rocket from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base on Saturday 5 May Australian time. However, the launch site was covered in thick fog, frustrating watchers on the ground. However, official photographers still managed to capture some stunning, slightly spooky images of the rocket shrouded in fog, and an incredible photograph of the rocket punching through the top of the fog layer taken from a light aircraft near the launch site.
InSight is now on its way to Mars, with an expected cruise phase of around 6 months. Towards the end of the year mission controllers will begin readying the lander, and themselves, for entry into the Martian atmosphere and landing on the surface of the red planet.
To find out what InSight will be doing on the red planet, and why it could change our understanding of Mars entirely, read our previous article NASA’s Mars InSight launches this week.
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas-V rocket with the NASA InSight spacecraft onboard is seen shortly after the mobile service tower was rolled back, Friday, May 4, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
The ULA Atlas-V rocket punched through the top of the fog layer after lift off from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. This image was snapped from a chartered light aircraft orbiting the area above the fog layer which frustrated ground-level watchers. Credit: NASA/Cory Hutson
