Insight Is On Its Way To Mars

An Atlas V rocket lifted off at 7:05 a.m. EDT (4:05 a.m. PDT) from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, carrying NASA’s InSight spacecraft.
The rocket is on its way, carrying NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) to begin its six month voyage to Mars.

The twin Mars Cube One (MarCO) mini-spacecraft have also been launched from dispensers mounted on the aft bulkhead carrier of the Atlas V Centaur second stage. Designed and built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, MarCO will be the first test of CubeSat technology in deep space. They are designed to test new communications and navigation capabilities for future missions and may provide real-time communication relay to cover the entry, descent and landing of InSight on Mars.