Spherex will hopefully help astronomers understand the evolution of the universe, while also searching for water and organic molecules.
Caltech
NASA has selected SpaceX to provide pilot services for its upcoming two-year astrophysics mission that is expected to begin in June 2024, the agency said in a Thursday release. The mission is christened Spherex, which stands for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer. Its purpose is to ‘examine the sky in near-infrared light’, which can then help answer questions about the birth of the universe and the evolution of galaxies.
SPHEREx will also search for water and organic molecules in areas where stars are formed from gas and dust, “as well as disks around stars where new planets can form,” says NASA. The mission will enable astronomers to collect data on more than 300 million galaxies and more than 100 million stars in the Milky Way.
The mission, which costs about $ 98.8 million to launch, will take off on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
See also: NASA’s next mission will look at ‘fingerprints’ of the early universe