Move over, Google Maps – there’s a new cosmic cartographer in town! 🚀 NASA just announced its SPHEREx space telescope has officially begun scanning the entire sky, like a high-tech detective piecing together the universe’s greatest mysteries. 🔍
What’s the Mission?
For the next two years, SPHEREx will snap 3,600 space selfies daily while orbiting Earth 14.5 times a day. Imagine your phone storage crying – this gadget’s creating a 360° atlas of galaxies to study everything from stardust ingredients to how galaxies evolved. 🌠
Why It Matters
NASA’s essentially building a ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ map of the cosmos. Scientists will use SPHEREx’s 3D galaxy charts to explore Big Bang echoes and hunt for life-building molecules in the Milky Way. Shawn Domagal-Goldman from NASA HQ calls it a ‘key teammate’ in their plan to launch even bigger telescopes later.
Fast Facts:
🕒 25-month mission
🌐 11,000 Earth orbits planned
📸 Captures infrared light invisible to human eyes
Think of SPHEREx as the ultimate cosmic influencer – its sky surveys will shape astrophysics research for decades. 🌟 Next stop: unlocking how our universe leveled up from a blank void to a galaxy-packed paradise.
