NASA's SPHEREx Telescope to Map the Universe's Origins and Ices Aboard SpaceX Falcon 9

NASA's SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) is scheduled to launch on February 28 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. This $488 million mission aims to create a 3D map of the entire sky using infrared wavelengths. SPHEREx will catalog over 450 million galaxies and 100 million stars in the Milky Way. The two-year mission seeks to understand the universe's large-scale structure, galaxy formation, and the origins of water and life's key ingredients. Equipped with a spectrophotometer, SPHEREx will split light into 102 colors to identify molecules frozen in interstellar clouds, aiding in understanding the distribution of elements necessary for life. SPHEREx will also contribute to understanding cosmic inflation by cataloging the distribution of hundreds of millions of galaxies. The telescope weighs approximately 500 kilograms and uses 270-300 watts of power. SPHEREx is launching alongside NASA's PUNCH mission, which will study the heliosphere using four satellites.