
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is gearing up to launch a new space telescope, Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionisation and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx), which will embark on a two-year mission to map the universe and uncover its secrets.
The SPHEREx telescope is scheduled to launch on February 27 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
SPHEREx will share its ride with NASA's Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission, a constellation of four small satellites designed to study the Sun.
This duo will lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Central California, US, marking the latest launch under NASA's Launch Services Programme.
According to Shawn Domagal-Goldman, Acting Director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters, SPHEREx will provide a panoramic view of the universe, unlike the snapshot-like images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
"SPHEREx and other survey missions can capture a broader perspective, similar to switching to panorama mode on a camera," Goldman noted.
During the mission, SPHEREx will detect two types of cosmic light: optical and infrared. The telescope also aims to shed new light on the universe’s history, the formation of galaxies, and the origins of life.