NASA launches planet-hunter spaceship to seek alien worlds

Tampa (AFP) – NASA on Wedesday blasted off a $337 million planet-hunting spaceship designed to scan the skies for signs of planets like Earth where life may exist beyond our solar system.

“Three, two, one and liftoff!” said a NASA commentator as the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) soared into the blue sky atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 6:51 pm (2251 GMT).