The Gaia stargazer launched from French Guiana en route to an orbit 932,000 miles from Earth.
(Credit: ESA)
The Milky Way is about to be seen in a whole new way.
The European Space Agency has successfully launched its Gaia satellite into orbit, bringing a 1 billion-pixel camera detector to map our galaxy in 3D.
The stargazer lifted off on Thursday aboard a Soyuz-Fregat rocket from a launch pad at Sinnamary in French Guiana. Its mission is to map the precise location of over a billion stars.
Its instruments are expected to help discover planets, asteroids, and supernovas, as well as reveal a better understanding of the origin and structure of the Milky Way.
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With its sunshield of solar panels successfully deployed, the spacecraft is on its way to L2, a point in space some 932,0… [Read more]
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