SPHEREx/PUNCH Vertical at SLC-4E
Photograph • March 11th, 2025
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying NASAs 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, is vertical at Space Launch Complex 4 East from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday March 8, 2025. SPHEREx will use its telescope to provide an all-sky spectral survey, creating a 3D map of the entire sky to help scientists investigate the origins of our universe. PUNCH will study origins of the Suns outflow of material, or the solar wind, capturing continuous 3D images of the Suns corona and the solar winds journey into the solar system.
