Artistic vision of the SPHEREx mission in the process.
In 2023, NASA will have another "eye", exploring the heavens and looking for answers to the most exciting scientific riddles. We are talking about the mission SPHEREx (Spectrophotometer for the history of the universe, the era of reionization and the researcher of the ice). The device must answer two questions: how did the Universe evolve and how common are some of the important building blocks of our galaxy.
The SPHEREx tool will be able to collect optical and near infrared light from an incredible number of sources: more than 100 million stars of the Milky Way and 300 million stars from other galaxies. These two different areas of activity will answer fundamental questions. SPHEREx will scan the entire sky and collect information at 96 different wavelengths of light. In the Milky Way galaxy, a telescope will make a map of water and organic molecules (the basis of life). Outside of the home galaxy SPHEREx will peek at the very first moments of the Universe.
The researchers use the data to determine the priority objectives of the observation for future missions of space telescopes, including the apparatus of James Webb and WFIRST. SPHEREx plan to launch in 2023. The mission will function for 2 years and will cost $ 242 million.
