SpaceX can be a lot of contradictory things, but you have to admit one thing: NASA approves. So much so that it will use SpaceX as a launch company for the SPHEREx program.
The SPHEREx project is a serious one. The name means Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, the Age of Reionization and Ices Explorer (you can see why it needs a nickname) and is designed to answer two big questions. First, it should help us understand how our universe has evolved. Second, it is designed to track the common elements of life throughout the galaxy – basically, how common are certain elements and in what combinations must they occur for life to happen?
Here is some additional information from Space-bar:
The SPHEREx instrument will be able to gather optical and near-infrared light from a mind-surprisingly large number of sources: over 100 million stars in the Milky Way itself and over 300 million other galaxies. He will be able to address two different, but equally fundamental, questions in these two general perspectives.
All of this, SPHEREx will scan across the sky and gather data in 96 different wavelengths of light. In our Milky Way galaxy, SPHEREx will map water and organic molecules, both essential ingredients for life as we know it. And beyond our galaxy, will look back on the first moments of our universe. Scientists will be able to use their data to prioritize observation objectives for other future space telescope missions, including the James Webb Space Telescope and the Infrared Field Survey Telescope.
The probe will be launched, hopefully, immediately after 2024, taking a ride with the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The launch will continue to be managed by NASA, and NASA will continue to be responsible for all data – it only needs SpaceX as a way to get out of the atmosphere.
With the money he had to pay to SpaceX, we’re looking at a mission that costs around $ 98.8 million – which seems like a lot, but it might be a small price to pay to find out more about the mysteries of the universe.