Europe launches satellite that will map 1 billion stars in Milky Way, hunt for new planets
at 08:35 on December 19, 2013, EST.
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BERLIN - The European Space Agency launched its star-surveying satellite Gaia into space Thursday, hoping to produce the most accurate three-dimensional map of the Milky Way and to better understand the evolution of our galaxy.
The satellite was lifted into space from French Guiana at 6:12 a.m. (0912 GMT; 4:12 a.m. EST) aboard a Russian-made Soyuz rocket, the agency said.