EUROPEAN TELESCOPE LAUNCHED TO HUNT FOR CLUES TO UNIVERSE'S DARKEST SECRETS

A European space telescope blasted off last weekend on a quest to explore the mysterious and invisible realm known as the dark universe.

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SpaceX launched the European Space Agency’s Euclid observatory toward its ultimate destination 1 million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away, the Webb Space Telescope’s neighborhood. It will take a month to get there and another two months before it starts its ambitious six-year survey this fall.

Flight controllers in Germany declared success nearly an hour into the flight, applauding and shouting “Yes!” as the telescope phoned home after a smooth liftoff.

“I’m so thrilled, I’m so excited to see now this mission up in space, knowing it is on its way,” the European Space Agency’s director general, Josef Aschbacher, said from the Florida launch site.