This image may not be used to state or imply ESA endorsement of any company or product Gaia space probe launch. The ESA's Gaia space probe launching f

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This image may not be used to state or imply ESA endorsement of any company or product Gaia space probe launch. The ESA's Gaia space probe launching from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, using a Russian Soyuz-STB rocket. Gaia will travel to the second Lagrangian point (L2), located about million kilometres from the Earth in the direction opposite to the Sun. From there, it will scan the sky for five years and measure the position and properties of a billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. It will also be used to detect extrasolar planets, asteroids within the solar system, and distant quasars, as well as testing the Theory of General Relativity. Gaia was launched in December 2013.

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Photo credit: © S Corvaja/EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
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