NASA’s SPHEREx space telescope has reached a critical juncture. The mission is now in “Phase C,” which means that NASA has approved the initial design of the space-attached observatory and will begin the final design phase – bringing its into software and hardware manufacturing, according to a recent blog post on NASA’s official website.
If all goes well, the mission should launch sometime between June 2024 and April 2025.
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NASA Reveals SPHEREx Space Telescope Explores Big Bang Secrets
The SPHEREx space telescope weighs as much as a subcompact car (about 1.2 tons), and uses advanced instruments to divide near-infrared light into colors that make it up.
Data from the upcoming space observatory will help scientists gain a better understanding of the combination of stars and other celestial bodies – while providing better estimates of their individual distances from Earth, Engadget reports. The goal is to build a 3D spectroscopy map of the entire night sky – in near-infrared light.
SPHEREx to find water ice in our galaxy
This map could help scientists find signs of cosmic inflation theorized that less than a billion seconds occurred after the big bang – the birth of the known universe. The SPHEREx mission will also help reveal how the first galaxies created stars.
The space observatory examines stars in our Milky Way – looking for water ice and frozen organic molecules – the basic setting for life on Earth. The theory is that ice hit water along with dust grains inside gas clouds across galaxies – inside where stars formed and ignited, allowing planets to form from the remaining solar material. of each star system.
“Ices in these disks could propagate planets with water and other organic molecules,” NASA wrote in its blog post. “In fact, the water in the Earth’s oceans began as interspecific ice.”
It’s hard to bring science into space, but it’s worth it
Prior to Phase C, NASA’s SPHEREx team had to pass the initial design study – to prove to NASA that the space telescope was capable. Once approved by the group, the team aims to spend the next 29 months building parts and finalizing the design. SPHEREx is slated for a June 2024 to April 2025 launch window – of course, if things go according to plan.
While the mission of the SPHEREx space telescope is now clearly cut, the path of engineering, construction, testing – and finally launching – has not achieved the same clarity. From the James Webb Space Telescope to SpaceX’s StarsX rocket, bringing science and exploration missions into space presents countless challenges, finance and engineering. We can’t say for sure what launch window NASA’s SPHEREx will eventually bring, but the cosmological adventure is worth exploring the first moments of the big bang to wait.