Melissa Donovan
NASA has launched its latest astrophysics observatory, SPHEREx, on a mission to explore the origins of the universe, the evolution of galaxies, and the fundamental components of life within our galaxy, as announced in a news release on Wednesday. The Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) was successfully sent into orbit at 8:10 p.m. PDT on March 11, riding aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Joining SPHEREx on this journey were four small satellites that form NASA’s PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission, designed to investigate how the Sun’s outer atmosphere transforms into the solar wind.
“Everything in NASA science is interconnected, and sending both SPHEREx and PUNCH up on a single rocket doubles the opportunities to do incredible science in space,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Congratulations to both mission teams as they explore the cosmos from far-out galaxies to our neighborhood star. I am excited to see the data returned in the years to come.”
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, which oversees SPHEREx, established communication with the space observatory at 9:31 p.m. PDT. After a month-long evaluation period to confirm the spacecraft’s functionality, the observatory will commence its two-year primary mission.
“The fact our amazing SPHEREx team kept this mission on track even as the Southern California wildfires swept through our community is a testament to their remarkable commitment to deepening humanity’s understanding of our universe,” said Laurie Leshin, director of NASA JPL. “We now eagerly await the scientific breakthroughs from SPHEREx’s all-sky survey — including insights into how the universe began and where the ingredients of life reside.”
Around 53 minutes after launch, the PUNCH satellites successfully detached, and mission operators confirmed communication with all four spacecraft. Over the next 90 days, these satellites will be positioned correctly and undergo calibration before they begin analyzing solar wind data.
Both SPHEREx and PUNCH will orbit Earth in a Sun-synchronous path along the terminator line, maintaining a fixed solar position. This setup is crucial, as it allows SPHEREx to shield its telescope from direct sunlight while ensuring PUNCH has an unobstructed view of the Sun’s corona.
SPHEREx will map the entire sky every six months, generating a detailed 3D celestial chart. This broad survey complements high-resolution observations made by space telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope. Through spectroscopy, the mission will measure distances to 450 million galaxies, providing insight into cosmic structures shaped by inflation, the rapid expansion event that followed the Big Bang. SPHEREx will also quantify the total light emitted by galaxies across cosmic history, offering a new perspective on galaxy formation and evolution.
Additionally, spectroscopy will enable SPHEREx to analyze the composition of celestial bodies. It will survey the Milky Way, searching for hidden deposits of frozen water and vital molecules like carbon dioxide, which are essential for life.
“Questions like ‘How did we get here?’ and ‘Are we alone?’ have been asked by humans for all of history,” said James Fanson, SPHEREx project manager at JPL. “I think it’s incredible that we are alive at a time when we have the scientific tools to actually start to answer them.”
PUNCH, meanwhile, will focus on studying the Sun’s outer atmosphere and inner solar system, capturing 3D images of how solar material moves outward to form the solar wind. By analyzing space weather phenomena like coronal mass ejections, the mission will improve our understanding of solar events that can impact satellites and astronauts.
“The space between planets is not an empty void. It’s full of turbulent solar wind that washes over Earth,” said Craig DeForest, the mission’s principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute. “The PUNCH mission is designed to answer basic questions about how stars like our Sun produce stellar winds, and how they give rise to dangerous space weather events right here on Earth.”
Mission Management and Collaborators
SPHEREx is managed by NASA JPL for the agency’s Astrophysics Division within the Science Mission Directorate. The telescope and spacecraft bus were developed by BAE Systems (formerly Ball Aerospace). A team of scientists from 10 U.S. institutions, along with researchers from South Korea and Taiwan, will analyze the mission’s data. Processed information will be publicly available through the NASA-IPAC Infrared Science Archive at Caltech.
The PUNCH mission is led by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), which designed and built the four spacecraft and Wide Field Imager instruments at its headquarters in San Antonio, Texas. The Naval Research Laboratory in Washington constructed the Narrow Field Imager. SwRI’s Boulder, Colorado office will handle mission operations, with overall management provided by NASA’s Explorers Program Office at Goddard Space Flight Center.
NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center managed the launch of both SPHEREx and PUNCH.
For more details on NASA’s scientific missions, visit: NASA Science.
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