NASA is preparing to launch its innovative SPHEREx observatory in February 2025, aiming to create detailed 3D maps of the sky.
NASA’s upcoming mission with SpaceX involves launching a space-based observatory, SPHEREx, designed to provide a comprehensive 3D map of the sky. This observatory, described as compact and car-sized, will ride into a polar orbit on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
SPHEREx, which stands for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer, is set to significantly advance our understanding of the universe. It will perform an all-sky survey, mapping millions of stars and galaxies in every direction as if examining the inside of a globe. This project is a major step for astronomical research and exploration.
The observatory has three primary scientific objectives. First, it seeks to enhance our understanding of cosmic inflation, the rapid expansion of the universe that occurred fractions of a second after the Big Bang. This involves analyzing the distribution of hundreds of millions of galaxies. A successful analysis might provide scientists with new insights into the physics that drove inflation.
Secondly, SPHEREx will focus on capturing the ‘collective glow’ from distant galaxies, which includes light from galaxies never individually viewed before. This will broaden the understanding of the universe’s structure and composition, contributing to a greater comprehension of cosmic phenomena.
Lastly, SPHEREx has a mission here in our Milky Way galaxy: to search for key components necessary for life, such as carbon dioxide and water. Discovering these elements could suggest how often such ingredients are present when new planets are born, offering clues to potential life-supporting environments in the galaxy.
Each year, the SPHEREx mission will produce two extensive sky maps, during its two-year lifespan. These efforts are expected to bring significant insights into the cosmos. Managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), SPHEREx’s development and operations showcase NASA’s ongoing commitment to exploring space’s vast mysteries.
SpaceX, upon winning the launch contract in 2021, will deliver SPHEREx along with another payload. The secondary payload consists of four smaller satellites from NASA’s PUNCH mission, destined for low Earth orbit to observe the sun’s corona and understand the transformation of mass and energy into solar wind.
The launch of SPHEREx signifies a significant leap in astrological study, promising advancements in our knowledge of both the universe and our own galaxy. By mapping the sky in unprecedented detail, NASA aims to unravel cosmic mysteries and potentially identify conditions for life elsewhere in the galaxy.
Source: Space
