Gaia mapping the stars of the Milky Way

Credit: ESA/ATG medialab; background: ESO/S. Brunier

We started this blog just over one year ago and what a year it has been! We’ve had the excitement of  the launch, the fabulous first-light image, the challenges of some aspects of commissioning and, more recently, the relief and satisfaction of getting the ‘go’ for science, and even the first of Gaia’s science alerts.

Now that science data have started to flow, the main activity for scientists working on the mission is preparing for the first catalogue release, planned for summer 2016. So while they are busy with that important task, we will take a break on the blog.

But don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that there will be no news or updates about the Gaia mission. You will be able to keep in touch with the mission via our websites (Space Science Portal,  Science & Technology, and Cosmos), and you can also follow the progress of Gaia via Twitter (@ESAGaia) and using the Gaia Mission app (for iPhones) which can be downloaded from iTunes.

Thanks to all of you for following us through this exciting first year!

The Gaia Team and Blog Editors