Following two scrubbing efforts on 8 and 10 March, NASA and SpaceX finally launched NASA’s new Sphrex Space Telescope riding on Falcon 9 rocket at the end of March 11.
SafrexNASA’s newest astronomer physics observatory, designed to examine and study the origin of the universe and it will map the sky in more than 100 different wavelengths.
Its name is small for the spectro-photometer for the history of the universe, the era of redistribution and ICES Explorer-it is easy to see why NASA mainly sticks with “Sphrex”-reflects its scientific objectives. Spherex will use sophisticated devices and filters for the image of the universe in diverse spectral channels to study the chemical components of the space, including the discovery of the molecules required for life.
Spherex would pick up the mental left by NASA’s Wide-Made-Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), which had a similar target when launched in 2009, but did it with a camera that captured only four wavelengths (3.4, 4.6, 12, 12, and 22μm) of light. The intelligent repeatedly mapped the entire sky in infrared lights and helped scientists to search for thousands of cosmic objects, including comets, exoplanets and stars.
Astropysicists will use spherex to study how light emissions from distant galaxies change over time and detect various chemicals such as frozen water in space.
Spherex will capture around 600 photos every day for a two -year planned period. Hope is that it will map the entire sky four times – once every six months – and will help scientists to prepare a 3D map of the universe which includes 450 million “nearby” galaxies.
Spherex is not the only payload launched in space on Falcon 9 last night. The rocket vessel was also a group of satellites, collectively called the punch (polemimeter to unite the corona and heliosfare). While the spherex will be flourished in a far away location, NASA’s punch missions, including four satellites, will stare at the sun and mapping their corona in polarized light.
Image Credit: Painted image credit spacex