The European Space Agency (ESA) has retired its Gaia spacecraft after a decade-long mission to map nearly two billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy. The spacecraft, launched in 2013, has been collecting detailed data that scientists will continue to use for years to come.
Gaia’s legacy is just beginning as it now orbits the Sun in silent retirement, carrying a piece of humanity with it. Its vast treasure trove of data will fuel cosmic discoveries and chart the maps that future explorers will rely on to make new discoveries.
Since its launch, Gaia has revolutionized our view of the cosmos by precisely measuring the positions, distances, motions, and characteristics of stars and other celestial objects. The result is a multi-dimensional map of the Milky Way that offers an unprecedented view of its structure and evolution.
Gaia’s data revealed signs of ancient galactic collisions, identified new star clusters, and contributed to the discovery of exoplanets and black holes. Its data will continue to shape research for decades, refining knowledge of galactic archaeology, stellar evolution, and exoplanets.
The spacecraft’s decommissioning was a careful process that involved systematically disabling its redundant systems to prevent it from transmitting again. Personal farewell messages were written into the spacecraft’s memory, ensuring that Gaia will forever carry a piece of its team with it as it drifts through space.
Despite its retirement, Gaia’s contributions to astronomy will continue to illuminate the future. Its data archive remains a treasure trove for scientists, and future missions like the Plato mission will rely on Gaia’s maps to make new discoveries.
Source: https://scitechdaily.com/they-just-shut-down-gaia-the-spacecraft-that-mapped-two-billion-stars