NASA’s newest space telescope, SPHEREx, and the sun-focused PUNCH mission successfully launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday. The missions, with distinct objectives, took flight after overcoming weather and integration challenges that caused delays following the initial opportunity on February 28.
SPHEREx, short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, is designed to explore the evolution of the universe and search for the origins of life’s essential components. On the other hand, PUNCH, or Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere, will investigate the sun’s impact on the solar system, focusing on the corona and solar wind.
Launching PUNCH as a secondary payload along with SPHEREx not only maximizes scientific output while minimizing costs, as noted by Dr. Nicky Fox, but also strategically places both missions into a sun-synchronous orbit around Earth’s poles. This orbit ensures that each spacecraft maintains a consistent orientation relative to the sun throughout the year.
Over the course of its two-year mission, SPHEREx will survey more than 450 million galaxies and over 100 million stars within our galaxy. By mapping the distribution of galaxies and utilizing 102 colors of infrared light, SPHEREx aims to provide insights into inflation and unveil the chemical composition of celestial objects.
These groundbreaking missions promise to uncover new facets of our solar system and galaxy, furthering our understanding of the universe we inhabit and the star that sustains life on Earth.
A statement from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, emphasizes the significance of new ways of observing the sky leading to potential discoveries. The SPHEREx mission aims to survey the total emission of light from galaxies, including those too remote for detection by other telescopes, offering a comprehensive view of light sources in the universe. One of SPHEREx’s key objectives is to search for essential ingredients for life, such as water, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide, within gas and dust clouds that contribute to the formation of planets and stars.
Researchers are particularly interested in exploring molecular clouds rich in gas and dust, where newly born stars may be surrounded by material disks that evolve into planets. The presence of ice associated with tiny dust particles is believed to be the primary source of water in the universe and likely the origin of Earth’s oceans. Understanding the distribution and abundance of life-sustaining components in our galaxy will provide insights into their integration into developing planets.
SPHEREx complements the James Webb Space Telescope by serving as a survey telescope, rapidly examining vast areas of the sky. The synergy between SPHEREx and Webb allows for a comprehensive analysis that combines detailed observations with broader perspectives. If SPHEREx detects intriguing phenomena, Webb or the Hubble Space Telescope can focus on those targets for further scrutiny, enhancing the overall scientific understanding.
PUNCH, a constellation of four compact spacecraft, will orbit Earth for two years to study the sun and its extended magnetic field and particle environment known as the heliosphere. Equipped with cameras featuring polarizing filters for enhanced imaging capabilities, the satellites will collectively capture global, three-dimensional views of the sun’s transition from the outer corona to the solar wind. This mission marks the first attempt to simultaneously image the corona and solar wind, shedding light on their interactions and impact on the solar system.
By investigating solar wind dynamics and their effects on space weather, PUNCH aims to improve our understanding of solar storms that can influence Earth’s atmosphere and technology. The insights gained from PUNCH’s observations during the solar maximum phase will enhance our ability to predict and mitigate the impacts of space weather events on our planet. Craig DeForest, the principal investigator, anticipates that PUNCH will provide unprecedented insights into our relationship with the solar wind, offering valuable knowledge for humanity.
Southwest Research Institute’s Solar System Science and Exploration Division in Boulder, Colorado has announced the addition of PUNCH to NASA’s fleet of heliophysics missions. Similar to SPHEREx and the Webb telescope, PUNCH will complement NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, which recently completed a close pass to the sun, by providing both a broader perspective and detailed close-up observations.
Joe Westlake, director of NASA’s heliophysics division, emphasized the significance of PUNCH as a new mission that contributes groundbreaking science continuously. He noted that launching PUNCH as a rideshare mission optimizes the use of launch capacity, maximizing the scientific return for the cost of a single launch.
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