Nasa's SPHEREx and PUNCH missions delayed; Know about the next launch date

Nasa's SPHEREx and PUNCH missions have been delayed to March 6, allowing the agency more time to complete vehicle processing and prelaunch checkouts

After multiple delays, NASA has once again postponed the highly anticipated launches of the SPHEREx and PUNCH missions. Originally set to lift off on February 27, these missions have already faced three reschedules, leaving space enthusiasts eagerly awaiting a new launch date.

 

The launch is now scheduled to take place at 10:09 p.m. EST (7:09 p.m. PST) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, on March 6. The live broadcast will take place at 9.15 pm and will be streamed live on Nasa+.

 

The SPHEREx mission aims to enhance the understanding of what happened in the first second after the big bang and search for key ingredients for life in our galaxy. The PUNCH mission will help in improving the observation of the Sun’s corona as it transitions into the solar wind. 

 

These missions have been already delayed thrice, and were originally scheduled to be launched on February 27. Both the payloads will be launched aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which had earlier been postponed to Tuesday (March 4) for launch. Now, the pair will remain Earth-bound until Thursday (March 6).

About SPHEREx mission

The Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) is a large, white, conical probe which is built to image wide views of the universe in infrared wavelengths. This space telescope will work similarly to the James Webb Space Telescope, but the latest telescope will have a much more zoomed-out perspective.

About PUNCH mission

Made up of a small constellation of four satellites, the Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) is a solar dynamics mission that will study things like coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, the solar wind and the sun's corona. CMEs are of particular interest to astronomers as this phenomena can cause space weather events that might lead to radio blackouts on Earth.