A rocket carrying the largest telescope ever has launched into space on a mission that European scientists hope will help unravel the mystery of the universe’s creation .Two European space telescopes have lifted off atop an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Space Agency’s launch center in French Guiana on thursday, according to MSNBC. The two telescopes will help astronomers learn more about the space .

The Herschel space telescope, the largest ever launched, will observe chunks of ice and dust left over from the formation of planets, playing a “complementary” role to the versatile Hubble, said Andreas Diekmann, director of the European Space Agency’s Washington office .One could get an impression on how life began in the universe and how widely it might be distributed, or whether we are totally alone,” said Martin Harwit, a Washington-based mission scientist for Herschel. The telescope could also pinpoint molecules that serve as building blocks for primitive organisms.Herschel is “the biggest telescope ever sent to space,” bragged Jean Clavel, science director of the ESA, referring to the telescope’s mirror, which has a diameter of 11.5 feet. The mirror on the Hubble has
a diameter of 7.9 feet .