NASA has announced a target launch date of late February 2025 for its SPHEREx mission, a compact observatory designed to create a 3D map of the universe. The satellite, which is about the size of a compact car, will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
SPHEREx aims to achieve three primary scientific objectives. First, it will measure the distribution of hundreds of millions of galaxies to enhance understanding of cosmic inflation, a rapid expansion of the universe following the Big Bang. Second, it will gather data on the collective glow of distant galaxies, including those not individually observed before. Finally, the mission will search the Milky Way for essential ingredients for life, such as carbon dioxide and water.
Developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), SPHEREx is expected to operate for two years and produce two maps annually. SpaceX secured the launch contract in 2021, and the spacecraft weighs 329 pounds (178 kilograms).
Additionally, the Falcon 9 launch will carry a secondary payload of four small satellites as part of NASA's PUNCH mission, which will study the sun's corona from low Earth orbit.
In another significant development, NASA's Parker Solar Probe is set to make a record-breaking close approach to the sun on Christmas Eve, coming within 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) at speeds of 430,000 mph (690,000 kph). This encounter will allow the probe to study solar phenomena during a turbulent phase of the sun's 11-year cycle.
Meanwhile, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, which made history as the first powered aircraft to fly on another planet, has been analyzed following its crash landing on Mars. Engineers determined that the crash was likely caused by flight over featureless sand, which led to a loss of orientation and a hard landing. Despite the damage, Ingenuity continued to relay weather data to the Perseverance rover until November.