NASA has confirmed successful communication with two groundbreaking space missions, SPHEREx and PUNCH, marking the start of their respective scientific objectives. Both spacecraft have powered on as expected and are now preparing for operations that will deepen humanity’s understanding of the universe and the Sun’s influence on space weather.
NASA’s SPHEREx mission will operate in low Earth orbit, detecting hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies and creating the first all-sky spectroscopic survey in the near-infrared. This artist’s concept shows the spacecraft and its distinctive conical photon shields, which protect SPHEREx’s telescope from infrared light and heat from the Sun and Earth. Graphic: NASA/JPL-Caltech
SPHEREx: Mapping the Cosmos in 3D
The Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) has begun its journey to unlock cosmic secrets. Engineers have verified that the spacecraft is fully functional and generating power, paving the way for a series of calibrations in the coming weeks. These preparations will ensure that its telescope reaches its optimal operating temperature and that its instruments are finely tuned for data collection.
Over its planned two-year mission, SPHEREx will conduct an unprecedented 3D all-sky survey, mapping more than 450 million galaxies and over 100 million stars within the Milky Way. The mission's primary objectives include:
- Probing Cosmic Inflation: SPHEREx will investigate the rapid expansion of the universe that occurred fractions of a second after the Big Bang, shedding light on fundamental physics.
- Unveiling the Cosmic Infrared Glow: The telescope will detect faint emissions from distant galaxies, including those never before observed.
- Tracing Essential Cosmic Molecules: By identifying hidden reservoirs of water and carbon dioxide within the Milky Way, SPHEREx could provide crucial insights into the conditions that lead to life.
SPHEREx is designed to complement high-resolution observatories like Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) by offering a wide-field perspective. Its vast dataset will be made publicly available, allowing scientists worldwide to analyze its findings and advance multiple fields of
astrophysical research.
PUNCH Narrow Field Imager is designed to capture high-resolution images of the Sun's corona. Credit: NASA’s Conceptual Image Lab/Kim Dongjae, Walt Feimer
PUNCH: Unraveling the Sun’s Impact on Space Weather
While SPHEREx looks deep into the cosmos, NASA’s Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission is turning its focus closer to home—the Sun and its impact on space weather. NASA confirmed that all four small satellites in the PUNCH constellation have successfully established communication and are fully operational.
Over the next two years, PUNCH will create detailed 3D images of the Sun’s corona, the star’s outermost atmosphere, and track how it transforms into the solar wind—the continuous flow of charged particles streaming through the solar system.
Understanding the behavior of solar wind is critical because it affects space weather, which can:
- Cause intense auroras in Earth's upper atmosphere.
- Disrupt GPS and satellite communications during strong solar storms.
- Impact power grids by inducing electrical currents in infrastructure.
By monitoring solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs)—the powerful eruptions that can send billions of tons of charged particles hurtling through space—PUNCH will improve scientists' ability to predict space weather events and mitigate their effects on Earth and space-based technologies.
A Coordinated Effort in Space Science
The PUNCH mission uses a network of ground-based antennas operated by the Swedish Space Corporation to relay data multiple times per day. This information is sent to the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado, which oversees spacecraft operations and data processing. From there, the mission's findings are distributed to NASA’s Solar Data Analysis Center at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where they will be publicly available in real-time.
SwRI, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, leads the PUNCH mission under NASA’s Explorers Program Office at Goddard. The program is overseen by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C.
With both SPHEREx and PUNCH now fully operational, NASA is on track to deliver a wealth of scientific insights. SPHEREx will provide a panoramic view of the universe’s evolution, while PUNCH will help unravel the dynamics of the Sun’s influence on space weather. Together, these missions will expand our knowledge of the cosmos and the forces shaping our solar system, reinforcing NASA’s commitment to open-access science and international collaboration.
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