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SPHEREx on its way to study origins of universe: NASA

American space agency NASA announced the launch of its newest astrophysics observatory, SPHEREx, which it said is on its way to study the origins of universe and the history of galaxies

Saturday March 15, 2025 1:00 AM, ummid.com News Network

[NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) observatory and PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) satellites lift off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on March 11, 2025.]

Washington: American space agency NASA announced the launch of its newest astrophysics observatory, SPHEREx, which it said is on its way to study the origins of universe and the history of galaxies.

SPHEREx Launch

The SPHEREx telescope, Short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, was originally scheduled to be launched in space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on February 27, 2025. It was however launched on March 11, 2025.

"SPHEREx, whose aim is also to search for the ingredients of life in our galaxy, lifted off at 8:10 p.m. PDT on March 11 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California", NASA said.

"PUNCH"

SPHEREx shared its ride with four small satellites that make up the agency's PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission, which will study how the Sun's outer atmosphere becomes 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", Nicky said.

Connection to ground controllers established

Ground controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages SPHEREx, established communications with the space observatory at 9:31 p.m. PDT.

The observatory will begin its two-year prime mission after a roughly one-month checkout period, during which engineers and scientists will make sure the spacecraft is working properly.

The PUNCH satellites successfully separated about 53 minutes after the launch, and ground controllers have established communication with all four PUNCH spacecraft, NASA said.

"Now, PUNCH begins a 90-day commissioning period where the four satellites will enter the correct orbital formation, and the instruments will be calibrated as a single "virtual instrument" before the scientists start to analyze images of the solar wind", the American space agency said.

The two missions are designed to operate in a low Earth, Sun-synchronous orbit over the day-night line (also known as the terminator) so the Sun always remains in the same position relative to the spacecraft.

"This is essential for SPHEREx to keep its telescope shielded from the Sun's light and heat (both would inhibit its observations) and for PUNCH to have a clear view in all directions around the Sun", NASA said.

"3D map of sky"

To achieve its wide-ranging science goals, SPHEREx will create a 3D map of the entire celestial sky every six months, providing a wide perspective to complement the work of space telescopes that observe smaller sections of the sky in more detail, such as NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope.

The mission will use a technique called spectroscopy to measure the distance to 450 million galaxies in the nearby universe. Their large-scale distribution was subtly influenced by an event that took place almost 14 billion years ago known as inflation, which caused the universe to expand in size a trillion-trillionfold in a fraction of a second after the big bang.

The mission will also measure the total collective glow of all the galaxies in the universe, providing new insights about how galaxies have formed and evolved over cosmic time.

Spectroscopy can also reveal the composition of cosmic objects, and SPHEREx will survey our home galaxy for hidden reservoirs of frozen water ice and other molecules, like carbon dioxide, that are essential to life as we know it.

"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."

NASA's PUNCH will make global, 3D observations of the inner solar system and the Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, to learn how its mass and energy become the solar wind, a stream of charged particles blowing outward from the Sun in all directions.

"The mission will explore the formation and evolution of space weather events such as coronal mass ejections, which can create storms of energetic particle radiation that can endanger spacecraft and astronauts", NASA said.

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