NASA launches missions to explore sun, universe beginning
NASA has launched two missions to explore the origins of the universe and the Sun's outer atmosphere, the agency announced on March 11.
The SPHEREx observatory and the PUNCH satellite constellation lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
After multiple delays since February due to technical reviews and weather conditions, the spacecraft is now set to map the entire celestial sky four times over the next two years, collecting data on hundreds of millions of galaxies.
SPHEREx, short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, will create a three-dimensional map of the sky, analyzing the light from hundreds of millions of galaxies.
The mission aims to shed light on the universe's evolution following the Big Bang nearly 14 billion years ago. It will also explore the large-scale distribution of galaxies and measure cosmic inflation—a rapid expansion phase that shaped the early universe.
SPHEREx will search for water ice and other molecules essential for life in the Milky Way, which could provide insight into the potential for life beyond Earth.
"Questions like 'How did we get here?' and 'Are we alone?' have fascinated humanity for centuries," said James Fanson, SPHEREx project manager. "It's remarkable that we now have the tools to start answering them."
Riding alongside SPHEREx, the Falcon 9 rocket also launched four small satellites for NASA's PUNCH mission (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere). PUNCH is focused on studying the Sun's corona and how it expands into solar wind, a stream of charged particles that affects space weather. By monitoring these solar wind interactions, scientists aim to improve solar storm predictions, which can disrupt satellites and power grids on Earth.
'The space between planets isn't empty—it's filled with turbulent solar wind,' said Craig DeForest, PUNCH principal investigator. 'PUNCH will help us understand how these winds form and how they create space weather that affects us here on Earth.'
Both missions will operate in low Earth orbit. SPHEREx will be managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, while PUNCH is led by the Southwest Research Institute.
"Everything in NASA science is interconnected, and sending both SPHEREx and PUNCH up on a single rocket doubles the opportunities to do incredible science in space," said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "Congratulations to both mission teams as they explore the cosmos—from distant galaxies to our nearby star. I am excited to see the data returned in the years to come."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Ammon
02-06-2025
- Ammon
Astronauts in space for 9 months didn't know if they would 'be able to make it back'
Ammon News - When astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore approached the International Space Station (ISS) last year with failing thrusters on their Boeing Starliner capsule, they were unable to fly forward to dock. And if they couldn't dock, they didn't know if they could make it back home again. "Docking was imperative," Mr Wilmore told BBC News, two months after he and Ms Williams finally made a successful return to Earth. "If we weren't able to dock, would we be able to make it back? We didn't know." The astronauts had been travelling on a test flight that was meant to last eight days. Instead, they ended up staying in space for nearly 10 months. The first challenge was to dock safely and successfully at the ISS, which they managed to do within several minutes after Mission Control on the ground helped them restart the craft's thrusters. Mr Wilmore said that the possibility they might never see Earth again "definitely went through our minds". But both astronauts said they didn't communicate the worst-case scenarios out loud in those moments, because they were trained to move on with solving problems. The pair's saga began in June 2024. They were taking part in the first crewed test flight of the Starliner spacecraft, which was developed by aerospace company Boeing. But after a number of technical problems during their flight, the option of Starliner carrying the astronauts home as planned was deemed to be a risk not worth taking - given that the pair could instead be brought back by another company, SpaceX. For that reason, they stayed in space until they hitched a ride back on a SpaceX capsule. For its part, Boeing maintained that its own capsule was safe to use - and was proven right when the craft returned, uncrewed, in September 2024. After months of experiments aboard the space station, Ms Williams and Mr Wilmore eventually returned to Earth on 18 March. During this phase of their mission, the pair were repeatedly described as stranded, implying there was no means for them to get off the ISS. But that was not the case, as the space station always has spacecraft attached to it - which could have acted in an emergency as a lifeboat to carry the astronauts back to Earth. Nonetheless, the pair's stay was longer than expected - though the Nasa pair embraced this. After two months back on the ground, both astronauts say they are feeling fit and well, because the workouts that they undertook while in their zero-gravity environment paid off. Exercising in zero gravity means your body doesn't need much time to recover from the daily squats and deadlifts, Mr Wilmore explained. He said he performed squats and deadlifts "every single day for almost 10 months", meaning that he returned to Earth "literally stronger than I've ever been in my life". Ms Williams agreed - she went running days after landing back on Earth and once ran a full marathon in space strapped to a treadmill - but said it's not always easy to readjust to the weight of the world. "Just getting gravity back on your head and your back and all that kind of stuff is a little bit painful," she said. Since their return, the pair have been working with Nasa and Boeing to fix problems with the malfunctioning spacecraft that took them into space last summer. "We are very positively hopeful that there will be opportunities to fly the Boeing Starliner in the future," Mr Wilmore said. And both astronauts said they would personally fly in the craft again - once those technical issues were resolved.
Ammon
01-06-2025
- Ammon
Trump pulls Musk ally's NASA nomination, will announce replacement
Ammon News - The White House withdrew on Saturday its nominee for NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman, abruptly yanking a close ally of Elon Musk from consideration to lead the space agency. President Donald Trump said he would announce a new candidate soon. "After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head NASA," Trump wrote on his Truth Social site. "I will soon announce a new nominee who will be mission aligned, and put America First in space." Isaacman, a billionaire private astronaut who had been Musk's pick to lead NASA, was due next week for a much-delayed confirmation vote before the U.S. Senate. His removal from consideration caught many in the space industry by surprise. Trump and the White House did not explain what led to the decision. "It may not always be obvious through the discourse and turbulence, but there are many competent, dedicated people who love this country and care deeply about the mission," Isaacman said in a post on X. His removal comes days after Musk's official departure from the White House, where the SpaceX CEO's role as a "special government employee" leading the Department of Government Efficiency created turbulence for the administration and frustrated some of Trump's aides. Reuters
Ammon
28-05-2025
- Ammon
SpaceX's Starship spins out of control after flying past points of previous failures
Ammon News - SpaceX's Starship rocket roared into space from Texas on Tuesday but spun out of control about halfway through its flight without achieving some of its most important testing goals, bringing fresh engineering hurdles to CEO Elon Musk's increasingly turbulent Mars rocket program. The 400-foot tall (122 meter) Starship rocket system, the core of Musk's goal of sending humans to Mars, lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase, Texas, launch site, flying beyond the point of two previous explosive attempts earlier this year that sent debris streaking over Caribbean islands and forced dozens of airliners to divert course. For the latest launch, the ninth full test mission of Starship since the first attempt in April 2023, the upper-stage cruise vessel was lofted to space atop a previously flown booster - a first such demonstration of the booster's reusability. But SpaceX lost contact with the 232-foot lower-stage booster during its descent before it plunged into the sea, rather than making the controlled splashdown the company had planned. Starship, meanwhile, continued into suborbital space but began to spin uncontrollably roughly 30 minutes into the mission. The errant spiraling came after SpaceX canceled a plan to deploy eight mock Starlink satellites into space - the rocket's "Pez" candy dispenser-like mechanism failed to work as designed. "Not looking great with a lot of our on-orbit objectives for today," SpaceX broadcaster Dan Huot said on a company livestream. Musk was scheduled to deliver an update on his space exploration ambitions in a speech from Starbase following the test flight, billed as a livestream presentation about "The Road to Making Life Multiplanetary." Hours later, he had yet to give the speech and there was no sign that he intended to do so. In a post on X, Musk touted Starship's scheduled shutdown of an engine in space, a step previous test flights achieved last year. He said a leak on Starship's primary fuel tank led to its loss of control. "Lot of good data to review," he said. "Launch cadence for next 3 flights will be faster, at approximately 1 every 3 to 4 weeks." SpaceX has said the Starship models that have flown this year bear significant design upgrades from previous prototypes, as thousands of company employees work to build a multi-purpose rocket capable of putting massive batches of satellites in space, carrying humans back to the moon and ultimately ferrying astronauts to Mars. Reutres
