Video: Mars Pathfinder pre-launch preparations

When the first Delta 2 rocket took off on Valentine’s Day 1989, ideas like navigating by smartphone and driving robots on Mars were science fiction. More than 150 launches over the last 30 years helped change all that.

A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket fired away from a California military base and disappeared into an overcast cloud deck Saturday on its final flight, carrying a NASA research satellite into orbit and closing the book on a nearly 30-year legacy of launches.

A video camera mounted aboard the United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket beamed back remarkable views of NASA’s SMAP spacecraft being deployed into orbit and opening its solar panels Saturday.