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Live coverage: SpaceX to launch NASA’s SPHEREx and PUNCH spacecraft on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg
- SpaceX is set to launch NASA's SPHEREx and PUNCH spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
- The missions aim to maximize efficiency by flying two payloads at once, covering a broad range of NASA science.
- This launch signifies a shift in how NASA conducts its missions, embracing a rideshare strategy to enhance scientific returns.
- Future rideshare missions by SpaceX for NASA include IMAP and TRACERS missions scheduled for later in the year.
- Challenges delayed the launch, including environmental control system issues and pneumatic system leaks.
- The SPHEREx telescope will map the night sky in infrared over a two-year mission to study the origins of the universe and cosmic ices.
- The PUNCH mission, costing $150 million, features narrow field and wide field coronagraph and heliospheric imagers to study solar winds.
- The Falcon 9 first stage booster, supporting the launch of SPHEREx and PUNCH, will attempt its third landing at LZ-4.
- The launch readiness review was completed successfully, with live coverage starting about an hour before liftoff.
- The SPHEREx observatory aims to create a map of over 400 million galaxies and investigate the presence of water in the universe.
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