A new NASA observatory launched into space Tuesday on a mission that could help scientists unravel what happened in the first fractions of a second after the Big Bang.

A NASA telescope was launched into space from California on Tuesday for a mission to explore the origins of the universe and to scour the Milky Way galaxy for hidden reservoirs of water, a key ingredient for life.

Tense, public squabbles between SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and NASA have stirred the space industry, but behind the scenes, space science has continued business as (almost) normal.