Gaia spacecraft launches to map Milky Way
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Gaia_liftoff_free.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
The Gaia space observatory, attached to a Soyuz rocket, blasted off from a spaceport in French Guiana on December 19.
S. Corvaja/ESA
The Gaia space observatory, attached to a Soyuz rocket, blasted off from a spaceport in French Guiana on December 19.
S. Corvaja/ESA