Liftoff! European spacecraft begins mission to map 1 billion stars
Thursday, December 19, 2013 - 12:30
in Astronomy & Space
A European probe roared into space Thursday, kicking off an ambitious mission to map a billion Milky Way stars in high resolution.The European Space Agency's Gaia spacecraft lifted off its pad at Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 4:12 a.m.