Spacecraft set for launch on mission to map a billion stars

PARIS, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- European scientists report they've completed final tests on a spacecraft to be launched on a 5-year mission to map a billion stars.

The European Space Agency's Gaia spacecraft is to be launched in November with a main goal of creating a highly accurate 3-D map of the Milky Way Galaxy, they said.

Two telescopes on the spacecraft will focus light on a single digital camera -- at more than 1 billion pixels the largest launched into space.

For the last two months Gaia has been undergoing testing at ESA's Kourou spaceport in French Guiana in preparation for launch, the agency reported Monday from its Paris headquarters.

"Getting ready for launch is an extremely busy phase for the mission teams but it's also extremely exciting and rewarding to see our mission so close to launch," said Giuseppe Sarri, ESA's Gaia project manager.

Earlier this month the spacecraft's sunshield, which will both protect the telescopes and camera from the heat of the sun and provide power from its solar cells, passed the final deployment test and has been stowed in its final configuration ready for the launch.

"With this important milestone -- and others -- now completed, we are working through an intensive checklist of final activities that will culminate in the much-awaited launch of our 'discovery machine," Sarri said.