NASA’s latest Astrophysics Observatory, Spherex, was successfully launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California on March 11, 2023. Spherex aims to explore the origins of the universe, the history of galaxies, and the components necessary for life in the cosmos. Accompanying Spherex were four small satellites part of the Punch mission, which studies the Sun and solar winds.
After launch, communications were established with Spherex, and it will undergo a one-month check-out period before commencing a major two-year mission. Spherex will create comprehensive 3D maps of the sky every six months using spectroscopy to measure distances to 450 million nearby galaxies and to investigate the composition of celestial bodies, including searching for water ice and carbon dioxide.
The Punch mission will focus on understanding the inner solar system and solar atmospheric phenomena, such as solar winds. Both missions are designed to operate in low Earth orbits and are expected to provide significant insights into astrophysics and space weather.
Spherex and Punch are collaborations involving teams from various institutions in the U.S. and abroad, with data management by Caltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The missions are anticipated to yield groundbreaking scientific findings about our universe and its components. For further information, visit NASA’s science mission website.
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