National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is tentatively scheduled to launch its new megaphone-shaped space telescope on Friday (February 28) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. During its short two-year mission, the observatory will help better understand things about the formation of the universe, the growth of all galaxies across cosmic history, and the location of water and life-forming molecules in the Milky Way galaxy.Here are three things that you need to know about the new space telescope, called Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx)Will make the “most colourful” map of cosmos everSPHEREx will map the universe while detecting two kinds of cosmic light, optical and infrared. While the human eye can see optical light, infrared light is invisible to it. That is an issue when it comes to studying the cosmos as it is the infrared light that contains information about the farthest reaches of space, the stars being born, and the details of galactic structures. To overcome this problem, scientists use specialised cameras and telescopes to study infrared which has a heat signature. One such instrument is the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) whose speciality is infrared and it helps show things in the universe that have remained hidden so far. Notably, the Hubble Space Telescope’s speciality is optical, not infrared light.While JWST is great at observing highly localised regions of the universe, SPHEREx will image the entire sky as seen from Earth.Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, told Space.com, “We are literally mapping the entire celestial sky in 102 infrared colours for the first time in humanity’s history, and we will see that every six months… This has not been done before on this level of colour resolution for our old sky maps.”Will shed light on a cosmic phenomenon called inflationOne of the primary aims of SPHEREx will be to measure something called cosmic inflation. It refers to a period which took place around 14 billion years ago, during which the universe expanded faster than the speed of light for a fraction of a second. Scientists suggest that inflation explains many aspects of the universe such as its flatness, or lack of curvature, on the largest scales.Also in Explained | How James Webb Space Telescope has raised questions in cosmologyHowever, cosmic inflation remains poorly understood. SPHEREx can help change that. The telescope will use spectroscopic images to measure the 3D positions of about 450 million galaxies across cosmic history.Story continues below this ad“Astronomers will then create a picture of the cosmos not just in position but in time. This, plus a lot of statistics and mathematics, will let the SPHEREx team test different theories of inflation,” according to a report in The Conversation. Sectional view of the SPHEREx with cosmic structures in the background. (Photo: NASA/JPL)Will explore the Milky Way galaxy to identify water- and life-forming moleculesSPHEREx will identify water- and life-forming molecules, also known as biogenic molecules (such as carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen), in the Milky Way galaxy, where the Earth is located. These molecules are frozen in icy particles which are located in some of the coldest parts of the galaxy. For life to form on Earth, the biogenic molecules would have to somehow travel from these regions to the planet. However, scientists are yet to know exactly how this process happened.The new telescope will help resolve the mystery as it will provide a complete census of the icy biogenic molecules in the Milky Way galaxy. SPHEREx will locate these molecules not only in this galaxy but also in nearby systems.Story continues below this ad“Once we know where they all are, we can determine the necessary conditions to form biogenic molecules in space. In turn, this can tell us about a crucial step in how life came to be,” according to The Conversation report.