NASA has selected the SPHEREx astronomy mission to progress to operational status as a NASA Medium-class Explorer (MIDEX) type mission. SPHEREx – Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Re-ionization and Ices Explorer – will conduct all sky survey collecting near-infra-red spectral data and, from red-shift analysis the distribution of galaxies to help explain expansion and its fluctuations of universe.
Stylistic illustration of SPHEREx mission. Courtesy: NASA/CalTech
The SPHEREx mission spacecraft has a surprisingly small mass of only 178 kg and carries a small 20 cm diameter telescope. It will be built by Ball Aerospace and will be launched into a Polar low Earth Orbit in 2023. The spacecraft also carries a deployable light shield to shield the telescope from Earth’s albedo/reflected light.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will operate the spacecraft with Korea Astronomy & Space Science Institute helping the technology and testing, and with the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) providing the analysis. The mission’s value, excluding the launch, is US$242 million.
