Gaia: from proposal to GDR1
  In this concluding article I recall the early history of the Gaia mission,
showing that the original science case and expectations of wide community
interest in Gaia data have been met. The quarter-century long partnership
involving some 1,000 scientists, engineers and managers in industry and
academia is delivering a large, high-quality and unique data set which will
underpin astrophysics across many sub-fields for years to come.
