On Friday, the
European Space Agency's Gaia telescope will be flown to French Guiana to begin the preparations for launch on a Soyuz rocket in mid-November.
The satellite is going to make the ultimate map of the sky. For certain, its catalogues will underpin pretty much all of astronomy for decades to come.
Gaia will pinpoint about a billion stars and build a profile on each and every one, including:
- exact coordinates, including distance
- brightness
- temperature
- composition
- age, and so on.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23779294