{"id":183867,"date":"2025-03-08T06:34:45","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T20:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?p=831490"},"modified":"2025-03-08T06:34:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T20:34:45","slug":"cosmic-mapmaker-nasas-spherex-space-telescope-ready-to-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=183867","title":{"rendered":"Cosmic Mapmaker: NASA\u2019s SPHEREx Space Telescope Ready to Launch"},"content":{"rendered":"
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6 min read<\/p>\n

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"NASA\u2019s<\/a><\/figure>
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Ahead of launch, NASA\u2019s SPHEREx is enclosed in a payload fairing at Vandenberg Space Force Base on March 2. The observatory is stacked atop the four small satellites that make up the agency\u2019s PUNCH mission.<\/div>\n
NASA\/BAE Systems\/Benjamin Fry<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

NASA\u2019s latest space observatory is targeting a March 8 liftoff, and the agency\u2019s PUNCH heliophysics mission is sharing a ride. Here\u2019s what to expect during launch and beyond.<\/em><\/p>\n

In a little over a day, NASA\u2019s SPHEREx space telescope is slated to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The observatory will map the entire celestial sky four times in two years, creating a 3D map of over 450 million galaxies. In doing so, the mission will provide insight into what happened a fraction of a second after the big bang, in addition to searching interstellar dust for the ingredients of life, and measuring the collective glow from all galaxies, including ones that other telescopes cannot easily detect.<\/p>\n

The launch window opens at 7:09:56 p.m. PST on Saturday, March 8, with a target launch time of 7:10:12 p.m. PST. Additional opportunities occur in the following days.<\/p>\n

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