Double trouble: Gaia hit by micrometeoroid and solar storm
![Gaia mapping the stars of the Milky Way](https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2004/05/gaia_mapping_the_stars_of_the_milky_way/10200416-8-eng-GB/Gaia_mapping_the_stars_of_the_Milky_Way_card_full.jpg)
Launched in December 2013, ESA’s Gaia spacecraft is on a mission to map the locations and motions of more than a billion stars in the Milky Way with extreme precision.
But it’s not easy being a satellite: space is a dangerous place. In recent months, hyper-velocity space dust and the strongest solar storm in 20 years have threatened Gaia’s ability to carry out the precise measurements for which it is famous.