A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope, successfully lifted off from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Saturday, July 1, 2023. This monumental mission aims to delve into the evolution of the dark universe, an enigmatic aspect of astrophysics that remains largely uncharted.
John Raoux | AP Photo
The European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope embarked on a groundbreaking mission on Saturday, venturing into the depths of the dark universe, a realm filled with mysteries and invisible forces that shape our cosmos.
SpaceX’s launch successfully propelled the Euclid observatory toward its final destination, located 1 million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away, in the vicinity of the Webb Space Telescope. The journey to this critical point in space will take about one month, followed by an additional two months before Euclid begins its ambitious six-year survey, slated to commence this fall.
Flight controllers in Germany celebrated the mission’s success nearly an hour post-launch, expressing their joy with cheers of “Yes!” as the telescope made contact with ground control after a flawless liftoff.
“I am absolutely thrilled and excited to witness this mission now soaring through space, knowing it is on its way,” stated Josef Aschbacher, the director general of the European Space Agency, from the launch site in Florida.
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Named after the ancient Greek mathematician, Euclid will meticulously examine billions of galaxies, covering over one-third of the observable sky. By accurately determining the locations and shapes of galaxies extending up to 10 billion light-years away—almost back to the Big Bang—scientists aspire to gain invaluable insights into dark energy and dark matter, which constitute the majority of the universe and drive its continuous expansion.
Currently, scientists only comprehend about 5 percent of the universe, which includes stars, planets, and humanity. The remaining vast expanse remains “still a mystery and an enigma, representing a significant frontier in modern physics that we hope this mission will truly advance,” remarked Carole Mundell, the European Space Agency’s science director, just before liftoff.
Euclid’s eagerly anticipated 3D mapping of the cosmos will span both space and time, aiming to elucidate the processes by which the dark universe evolved and the reasons behind its accelerating expansion.
The lead scientist for the $1.5 billion mission (1.4 billion euros) emphasized that Euclid will measure dark energy and dark matter with unprecedented precision and accuracy, providing a deeper understanding of these elusive components of our universe.
“Euclid transcends the role of a typical space telescope; it essentially serves as a dark energy detector,” noted Rene Laureijs, highlighting the telescope’s unique capabilities.
Standing at 15 feet (4.7 meters) tall and nearly as wide, Euclid features a 1.2-meter (4-foot) telescope and two scientific instruments designed to observe the cosmos across both visible light and near-infrared wavelengths. A large sunshield protects the telescope’s sensitive components by maintaining optimal frigid temperatures.
NASA, which provided Euclid with its infrared detectors, is also preparing for its own mission aimed at enhancing our understanding of dark energy and dark matter: the Roman Space Telescope, set to launch in 2027. Officials have indicated that the US-European Webb telescope may also play a role in this quest for knowledge.
Initially, Euclid was scheduled to launch on a Russian rocket from French Guiana, Europe’s primary spaceport. However, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, European and Russian space agencies severed ties, prompting a switch to a SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral. Delaying for Europe’s next-generation, yet-to-fly Ariane rocket would have resulted in a wait of over two years, according to mission manager Giuseppe Racca.
