Test Chamber for NASA’s New Cosmic Mapmaker Makes Dramatic Entrance

News Release • August 16th, 2022
Kasi chamber

The customized test chamber for the SPHEREx mission has reached its destination at Caltech’s Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pasadena. About the size of a small SUV and made of stainless steel, the cylindrical chamber was built by the Korean Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI). Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.

The SPHEREx mission will create a 3D map of the entire sky. Its cutting-edge instruments require a custom-built chamber to make sure they’ll be ready to operate in space. After three years of design and construction, a monthlong boat ride across the Pacific Ocean, and a lift from a 30-ton crane, the customized test chamber for NASA’s upcoming SPHEREx mission has finally reached its destination at Caltech’s Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pasadena. About the size of a small SUV and made of stainless steel, the cylindrical chamber was built by the Korean Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), a partner in the SPHEREx mission. It will be used to test SPHEREx’s detectors (essentially its cameras) and optics (the system that collects light from the cosmos). Read more about this important milestone for the SPHEREx project here.


Recent News

NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch and launch activities for SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer), the agency’s newest space telescope. This will lift off with another NASA mission, Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere, or PUNCH, which will study the Sun’s solar wind.

Read More

Where is all the water that may form oceans on distant planets and moons? The SPHEREx astrophysics mission will search the galaxy and take stock.

Read More

SPHEREx Nears Launch (LIVE Q+A)

February 13th, 2025

We are less than 15 days away from launching SPHEREx, a mission that will observe hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies in infrared light, a range of wavelengths not visible to the human eye. Tune in as we speak with experts from the mission, both at Vandenberg Space Force Base and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, and see the space observatory up close and speak with experts...

Read More

SPHEREx L-30 News Briefing

January 31st, 2025

NASA previews SPHEREx, space telescope mission to explore universe’s origins.

Read More

The SPHEREx Observatory has completed standalone operations in the West High Bay at Astrotech Space Operations Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base. The observatory is ready to begin integrated operations with rideshare partner mission PUNCH and the SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle, readying for launch in a few weeks. Photo taken at Astrotech Space Operations Facility, VSFB by BAE...

Read More