In a twist, NASA launched the Mars InSight lander from California rather than Florida's Cape Canaveral. InSight will dig deeper into Mars than ever before — nearly 16 feet, or five metres — to take the planet's temperature. The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas-V rocket with NASA's InSight spacecraft onboard is seen just before liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Unlike our active Earth, Mars hasn't been transformed by plate tectonics and other processes, he noted. NASA normally launches from Cape Canaveral, but decided to switch to California for InSight to take advantage of a shorter flight backlog.

Source: CBC News May 05, 2018 11:24 UTC