The two European spacecraft set to begin their missions today have just been successfully shoved off the planet by an Ariane 5 rocket. Herschel will look at far-infrared signatures of stars as they form, and Planck will be able to claim the title of coldest thing in the galaxy while it maps the cosmic microwave background.

The launch, from Kourou, French Guiana, went off without a hitch and streamed live by the European space agency.

Read more about the missions here and here.

Congratulations ESA and Ariane Space!

Image: ESA/CNES/ARIANESPACE