NASA is moving forward with plans to launch a new space telescope that will search for clues to some of the most perplexing mysteries of the cosmos by peering into largely unexplored regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The American space agency officially revealed its new PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics, or PRIMA, in late September, which will help astronomers scour the cosmos for clues to the origins of planets, stars, galaxies, black holes, and even the source of water on Earth.
PRIMA was selected to enter Phase B of its development, a milestone that will significantly advance the preliminary scope of the mission’s design and technology development ahead of its eventual confirmation review.
If approved, PRIMA will be on course for a 2033 launch, with current plans for a five-year mission.
“The PRIMA mission is humanity’s next window into the deep universe,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, in a statement on September 23. “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.”
PRIMA: Closing the Gap Between Optical and Radio Telescopes
Driving the PRIMA mission will be the space observatory’s powerhouse 5.9-foot telescope, which will be used to conduct surveys of the universe at far-infrared wavelengths.
This is a key component of the PRIMA mission, as NASA plans for the telescope’s infrared capabilities to help bridge the observational gap between existing infrared observatories like the James Webb Space Telescope and radio telescopes.
By its design, the far-infrared capabilities PRIMA is to be equipped for will be able to reveal radiant energy that other observatories are not able to detect. This will allow PRIMA to investigate how planets beyond our solar system form, as well as how the black holes at the center of galaxies have evolved throughout time.
Investigations into the accumulation of cosmic dust and heavy elements throughout the universe, and how they populated over time, will also be possible with PRIMA’s far-infrared observations.
NASA’s New Probe Explorers
PRIMA is also set to break new ground by becoming part of NASA’s new Probe Explorers class, representing the first mission under the new initiative.
The Probe Explorers are the result of a recommendation by the National Academies’ 2020 astronomy and astrophysics Decadal Survey, and will be part of NASA’s long-running Explorers Program, which has its origins with the launch of Explorer 1, the first U.S.-launched satellite, in 1958.
NASA has said a mission team at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, will manage the PRIMA mission, with contributions from experts at Goddard Space Flight Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, and several international collaborators.
Ultimately, the discoveries under PRIMA are anticipated to broaden the scope of NASA’s cosmic investigations by complementing current efforts made possible by Webb, as well as the forthcoming observations by the Roman Space Telescope.
By expanding the agency’s ability to examine the cosmos across different wavelengths, the launch of the PRIMA space telescope will be poised to lead future observations that will provide potentially crucial information about how the universe as we know it came to be.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.