New Delhi: The American space agency, NASA, on Wednesday announced a new mission to investigate the history and evolution of the universe with its far-infrared telescope PRIMA, or PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics. The telescope, which is the first in NASA’s new class of astrophysics missions, called Probe Explorers, under its Explorers Program, is expected to take flight in 2033.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, NASA said that PRIMA will now move to Phase B — the stage development that advances the preliminary design and technology development for the mission. However, the mission will be subject to a confirmation review, based on technical, programmatic, and cost performance to determine if it can proceed to Phase C.
Once confirmed, PRIMA’s project cost is capped at $1.2 billion, excluding launch and other non-project costs. Planned for a five-year mission, the observatory is targeting a 2033 launch.
“The PRIMA mission is humanity’s next window into the deep universe. It will unveil the obscure across cosmic time to better understand the formation of planets, stars, black holes, and even how water on Earth came to be,” Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement.
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Bridging a gap
PRIMA is a 5.9-foot telescope designed to conduct deep scans of the universe in far-infrared light. It can detect wavelengths from 30 micrometre up to about 450-670 micrometre emitted by objects in space. This instrument will help bridge the gap between existing infrared observatories, including the James Webb Space Telescope, and radio telescopes.
The space agency said that by studying radiant energy that only emerges in the far-infrared, PRIMA will address a wide range of questions about the universe, including the origins of planets outside our solar system, how galaxies and their black holes have grown and evolved over cosmic history, and how dust and heavy elements have built up in the universe over time, all helping paint a better picture of why the universe looks the way it does today.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been designated to mainly manage the PRIMA missions, in partnership with the Goddard Space Flight Center and the Marshall Space Flight Center.
The PRIMA mission will also have contributions from international partners, including CNES (Centre National D’Etudes Spatiales), ASI (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana), DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt), CSA (Canadian Space Agency), KASI (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute), JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and the UK Space Agency.
Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director, Astrophysics Division, NASA Headquarters, said that a single mission alone cannot probe all the universe’s mysteries. So, by extending the survey capabilities into far-infrared wavelengths with PRIMA, the agency is enabling an incredibly comprehensive look at the cosmos.
“With our (James) Webb and (Grace) Roman space telescopes, we set a cadence of launching premiere-class missions in both halves of the decade. We’re going to keep that up and kick off the next decade with PRIMA, as part of a pipeline that will consistently have missions of this caliber ready to go,” Domagal-Goldman said.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)