In the wee hours of Saturday, May 5—4:05 a.m., to be precise—NASA’s InSight will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, northwest of Santa Barbara, and begin its journey to Mars. This is exciting for several reasons. For one thing, scientists will be using this mission to learn all sorts of things about the Red Planet that were heretofore unknown, like how large its core is, how thick its crust is, and what it’s like when an earthquake (ahem, marsquake) hits. They may even get a better sense of how the planet was formed. It’s also the first time NASA has launched a planetary mission from the West Coast. According to the New York Times, the spacecraft’s southward trajectory means early risers (or night owls, depending)…View Original PostThe post Catch a Glimpse of the First-Ever Planetary Mission to Launch From the West Coast appeared first on Los Angeles Magazine.