Loading

Artist's Concept of the Atlas V-401 Rocket

NASA/JPL-Caltech2018-01-25

NASA

NASA
Washington, DC, United States

Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base on California's Pacific coast between May 5 and June 8, 2018. The lander will launch to Mars aboard an Atlas V-401 launch vehicle, one of the biggest rockets available for interplanetary flight.

It stands 188 feet (57.3 meters) tall, or about as tall as a 19-story building. Fully stacked, with the spacecraft, the Atlas V-401 weighs about 730,000 pounds (333,000 kilograms). That's about 14 big rigs, fully loaded with cargo!

The three numbers in the 401 designation signify:

4: a payload fairing -- or nose cone -- that is about 13 feet (4 meters) in diameter

0: solid-rocket boosters supplementing the main booster

1: the upper stage, which has one engine

https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22231

Show lessRead more
  • Title: Artist's Concept of the Atlas V-401 Rocket
  • Creator: NASA/JPL-Caltech
  • Date Created: 2018-01-25
  • Rights: JPL
  • Album: kboggs
NASA

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

Home
Discover
Play
Nearby
Favorites