(CNN) Mars is about to get its first thorough checkup since it formed billions of years ago, as NASA's InSight heads to the red planet after launching Saturday morning from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California

"Three ... two ... ... zero ... Lift off, of the Atlas V -- launching the first interplanetary mission from the West Coast and NASA's Insight, the first outer space robotic explorer to study the interior of Mars," a NASA announcer declared amid the rumble of takeoff at 7:05 a.m. ET, via NASA TV.

LIFTOFF! Humanity's next mission to Mars has left the pad! @NASAInSight heads into space for a ~6 month journey to Mars where it will take the planet's vital signs and help us understand how rocky planets formed. Watch: https://t.co/SA1B0Dglms pic.twitter.com/wBqFc47L5p — NASA (@NASA) May 5, 2018

The Atlas V 401 rocket also carried two suitcase-size spacecraft, designed to orbit Mars, as it blasted into the dark and cloudy sky, which turned bright gold for seconds as the rocket ascended in a plume of smoke. NASA's previous interplanetary missions launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

After a six-month journey, if it all goes as planned, InSight -- whose name is short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport -- will touch down just north of the Martian equator on November 26, joining five other NASA spacecraft operating on and above Mars.

Check out these amazing photos from the #AtlasV #InSight launch this morning from SLC-3E at Vandenberg AFB! pic.twitter.com/4yiknU7MYi — NASA_LSP (@NASA_LSP) May 5, 2018

The 790-pound (358-kilogram) probe will then begin its two-year science mission to seek the "fingerprints" of the processes that formed the rocky planets of the solar system. It will measure the planet's "vital signs: 'its "pulse' (seismology), 'temperature' (heat flow) and 'reflexes' (precision tracking)," according to NASA.

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