Delta 4 launch seen from press viewing site (members only)

Now cocooned inside a heat shield and the nose shroud of an Atlas 5 rocket that will send it to Mars, NASA’s InSight lander is awaiting launch May 5 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

The last flight of United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4-Medium rocket lifted off Aug. 22 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, riding more than 1.2 million pounds of thrust from a hydrogen-fueled main engine and two strap-on solid rocket motors.

United Launch Alliance ground crews are putting the final touches on a Delta 4 rocket scheduled for blastoff Friday evening from Cape Canaveral with a U.S. Air Force communications satellite.