Space telescope sets off to study ‘dark universe’

STORY: The telescope dubbed Euclid, named for the ancient Greek mathematician called the "father of geometry," was carried aloft in the cargo bay of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that blasted off around 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

New insights from the $1.4 billion European Space Agency (ESA) mission, designed to last at least six years, are expected to transform astrophysics and perhaps understanding of the very nature of gravity itself.