Radiation Belt Storm Probes launched by Atlas 5

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasts off at 4:05 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 to deploy a pair of instrument-laden NASA satellites into highly elliptical orbits to begin a two-year mission plunging into and out of the radiation belts discovered by James Van Allen at the dawn of the space age.

See our Mission Status Center for the latest news on the launch.

Photo credit: Pat Corkery/United Launch Alliance

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