Space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), on Tuesday, said it will launch a space telescope called UVEX (UltraViolet Explorer) to survey ultraviolet light across the sky with an aim to gather insight into how galaxies and stars evolve.
The UVEX is expected to launch in 2030, as its next Astrophysics Medium-Class Explorer mission, said the space company. Additionally, it said the space telescope is capable of pointing sources of ultraviolet light and capturing the explosions that follow bursts of gravitational waves caused by merging neutron stars.
The telescope is built with an ultraviolet spectrograph to study stellar explosions and massive stars, said NASA. The mission was selected for a two-year mission and will cost approximately $300 million, not including launch costs.
NASA said following a review of two Medium-Class Explorer and two Mission of Opportunity concept proposals by a panel of scientists and engineers, NASA has chosen the UVEX Medium-Class Explorer concept to progress into development.
The Washington DC-based company said the data collected from the mission would complement data from other missions, including Euclid mission led by ESA (European Space Agency) with NASA contributions, and NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which is set to launch by May 2027.
NASA is expected to launch Intuitive Machines’ first robotic flight to the Moon’s surface as a part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative and Artemis campaign.
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