Photos: Atlas 5 rocket soars

A United Launch Atlas 5 rocket is set to dispatch NASA’s InSight lander toward Mars, kicking off an interplanetary journey from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Thursday evening, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the SES 9 television broadcast satellite into orbit 31 minutes later.

Tory Bruno has held the top post at United Launch Alliance for a little more than a year, and it has been anything but business as usual for the top U.S. launch provider. He recently spoke with reporters at ULA’s Cape Canaveral launch control center.