Technicians and engineers completed encapsulation of NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) observatory and PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) satellites within a protective payload fairing inside the Astrotech Space Operations facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, on Sunday, March 2.
The payload fairing serves as a barrier to the harsh environment of the atmosphere during launch and ascent. Liftoff of SPHEREx and PUNCH on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeted for no earlier than 7:09 p.m. PST (10:09 p.m. EST) on Thursday, March 6.
The SPHEREx observatory is 8.5 feet tall, 10.5 feet wide and deep, with a solar panel that produces around 750 watts of power. The PUNCH mission features four 140-pound small satellites, each about 1-by-2-by-3 feet in size. At launch, the integrated SPHEREx and PUNCH stack will weigh around 1,667 pounds.
The SPHEREx mission will view the sky in infrared light, a range of wavelengths not visible to the human eye, collecting data on more than 450 million galaxies along with more than 100 million stars in the Milky Way over a two-year planned mission. PUNCH will study origins of the Sun’s outflow of material, or the solar wind, capturing continuous 3D images of the Sun’s corona and the solar wind’s journey into the solar system.
Stay connected to NASA’s SPHEREx and PUNCH missions by following and tagging these accounts:
X: @NASA, @NASAJPL, @NASAUniverse, @NASASun, @NASAKennedy, @NASA_LSP
Facebook: NASA, NASA’s JPL, NASA Universe, NASASunScience, NASA’s Launch Services Program
Instagram: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @NASAJPL, @NASAUniverse
For more information about these missions, visit: