The Hipparcos satellite, developed and launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 1989, was the first space mission dedicated to astrometry the accurate measurement of positions, distances, and proper motions of stars. Amongst the key achievements of its measurements are refining the cosmic distance scale, characterizing the large-scale kinematic motions in the Solar neighborhood, providing precise luminosities for stellar modelling, and confirming Einstein s prediction of the effect of gravity on starlight. This authoritative account of the Hipparcos contributions over the last decade is...