SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Here are a couple of existential questions for you. How did we get here? How did the universe begin? How did galaxies develop? Well soon, scientists may have more answers to some of these questions, and that is because on Tuesday NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is scheduled to launch a new 8 1/2-foot tall telescope called SPHEREx. And its goal is to explore the origin of the universe and all the essential ingredients of life itself - so no pressure. Joining me to talk about this is SPHEREx Deputy Project Manager Beth Fabinsky. Beth, welcome.
BETH FABINSKY: Thank you so much.
DETROW: I wanted to start with a clarification because I think, you know, the James Webb telescope has gotten so much attention in recent years and has been sending these phenomenal images and providing these new understandings. What is different and unique here about SPHEREx?
FABINSKY: The main difference between the wonderful Webb telescope and SPHEREx is that SPHEREx is an all-sky survey, and it has a very wide field of view. We're going to see the entire universe four times in our two-year mission. And that means we can draw really grand conclusions from a very large data set about the universe that we see.
DETROW: Can you just help somebody who's listening and maybe not fully following along - like, what the key difference is compared to some of the space telescopes we're used to hearing about.
FABINSKY: Yes, absolutely. So one of the main features of SPHEREx is that we do spectroscopy. So we're going to see the entire sky in over 100 infrared colors, and that's something that has not been done before. So an all-sky spectral survey means we see every point on the sky in these 102 colors four times during our mission. And that's an exciting data set that astronomers and astrophysicists will have to work with.
DETROW: How are you feeling right now? - Because these missions are planned out so intricately, so many years in advance, so many things have to go right. What does it feel like in your position a few days before a hopeful launch?
FABINSKY: It's very exciting, and it's very terrifying because it's the culmination of so many people's hard work, late nights, long hours. And, of course, something could go wrong. Space is hard.
DETROW: Can you walk us through what's going to happen over the next few days - just the broad plan of attack of what needs to be set up before the telescope starts sending you back results?
FABINSKY: Well, first, we have to launch, and we have to roll out our spacecrafts, along with its partner mission. We're co-manifest with another mission called PUNCH. And we have to roll out to the rocket pad so that we can launch up into our Earth orbit. And while the team at the launch site is getting ready for that - and they're working very, very hard. I have to shout out to them. Meanwhile, back at Jet Propulsion Lab, our operations team is doing last-minute preparations to hear from the spacecraft once it's in orbit. That's going to be a very exciting moment when we first hear from it in space.
DETROW: Assuming everything goes right, how quickly do you start getting data back?
FABINSKY: We're going to start our science survey about five to six weeks after we launch. So it's a little over a month to check out the spacecraft. And then we start collecting data, and we release that data shortly after for the science community to use.
DETROW: What are you most excited about here? You know, I started out with all of these big philosophical, theoretical questions, and hopefully this will help provide some new information about some of them. Is there anything in particular that you're really interested to see with this wide scope?
FABINSKY: We're looking at the first moments in the universe during a period called cosmic inflation. I'm very excited about that. We're looking at the evolution of galaxies over time. That's also exciting. And our final main science objective is to look inside our galaxy for the signature of ices in dense clouds of gas and dust, and that's pretty exciting, too. So our science objectives definitely make me excited, and I'm also excited for the unknown things that will be discovered.
DETROW: And I assume you'll probably be a little more excited once everything goes well Tuesday.
FABINSKY: I will be much more excited if things are successful, definitely.
DETROW: That's Beth Fabinsky, the deputy project manager for SPHEREx. Thank you so much.
FABINSKY: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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