SPHEREx, PUNCH Missions ‘Go’ for Launch

NASA Launch Manager Dr. Denton Gibson has just given the final “go” for launch of NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) observatory and PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) satellites!
The spacecraft is on internal power and configured for launch. In the next few moments, the rocket’s autonomous internal flight computers will take over the launch countdown, and the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s nine Merlin engines will roar to life, sending SPHEREx and PUNCH on the start of their journeys to scientific discovery.