At 11:12 a.m. on Saturday, the Euclid spacecraft launched into space on its mission to chart the history of our universe as far back as 10 billion years ago. Researchers plan to use Euclid’s map to explore how dark matter and dark energy — mysterious stuff that makes up 95 percent of our universe — have influenced what we see when we look out across space and time. “Euclid is coming at a really interesting time in the history of cosmology,” said Jason Rhodes, a physicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who leads Euclid’s U.S. science team. “We are entering a time when Euclid is going to be great at answering questions that are just now emerging. And I am certain that Euclid is going to be fantastic for answering questions we haven’t even thought of.”

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Persons: Euclid, ”, Jason Rhodes Organizations: Euclid, European Space Agency, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Euclid’s Locations: Euclid’s U.S