The European Space Agency on Thursda launched a project set to provide the first realistic three-dimensional mapping of the Milky Way, dpa reported. As a part of the mission, a highly precise telescope dubbed Gaia will orbit around the sun at a distance of 1.5 million kilometres beyond the Earth's orbit. The rocket was launched Thursday on a Russian Soyuz rocket, taking off from a space station in French Guiana. The aim of the five-year mission is to map more than a billion stars, thereby creating a three-dimensional map of their positions and movement in space. -- SPA 21:15 LOCAL TIME 18:15 GMT تغريد
