NASA advances far-infrared telescope project toward design stage

NASA has moved the proposed Probe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics, or PRIMA, into its preliminary design and technology development phase, bringing the space observatory closer to possible construction and launch.

The University of Toledo’s news site reported that the mission could proceed to implementation with a project budget limited to $1.2 billion, excluding launch expenses and other costs outside the project itself. NASA is targeting 2033 for launch, although the observatory must first pass the next stages of development and receive confirmation that it is ready to be built.

University of Toledo astronomer J.D. Smith is a co-investigator on the mission. Smith is a professor of astronomy and directs the university’s Ritter Astrophysical Research Center. He also helped develop the scientific case for PRIMA as part of an international team of roughly 25 astronomers.

A missing range of cosmic light

PRIMA would be a 5.9-foot telescope designed to observe far-infrared wavelengths. This portion of the electromagnetic spectrum sits between the ranges examined by many radio and infrared observatories, including the James Webb Space Telescope.

Far-infrared observations can reveal material and processes that are difficult to detect at other wavelengths. The mission is intended to investigate how planetary atmospheres originate, how stars and black holes influence one another, and how galaxies accumulate dust and heavier elements across cosmic history.

The observatory would also examine questions connected to the origins of water on Earth. NASA’s science chief, Nicky Fox, described PRIMA as a new way to explore the universe across time, from the formation of planets and stars to the growth of black holes.

The mission would represent the first member of a new category of astrophysics projects identified through the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s 2020 Decadal Survey. That survey helps set priorities for US astronomy and space science, making PRIMA’s advancement significant beyond the mission itself.

Building on earlier observatories

Smith’s research focuses on interstellar material and what it can reveal about the development of galaxies. He was involved in the scientific planning that NASA solicited and reviewed before the project reached its current phase.

His part of the international team included co-leading a programme focused on the emergence of heavy elements, including nitrogen, oxygen and carbon nanoparticles. The group began its work in 2022. In May, its members and other participants spent an intensive week at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory presenting the mission’s scientific goals and assessing whether the proposed technology could support them. The laboratory is expected to manage PRIMA for NASA.

The project builds on experience from the Herschel Space Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope, two earlier observatories that provided far-infrared or related observations from space. Herschel and Spitzer are no longer operating, having retired in 2013 and 2020 respectively. Smith worked on both earlier in his career.

The far-infrared range is technically demanding to observe, particularly when scientists are trying to study objects from the universe’s earlier eras. Advances in technology since the previous missions could allow PRIMA to examine this territory with greater capability, according to the University of Toledo’s account.

Opportunities for wider participation

PRIMA would not be limited to the researchers who helped propose it. Most of its planned five-year mission would be available through a general observer programme. Astronomers would submit proposals for observing time, with selections made through a competitive process like the one used for the James Webb Space Telescope.

That structure could give researchers without a formal role in the mission access to its instruments and data. It may also create opportunities for students and faculty at the University of Toledo, where astronomers have already secured a notable number of Webb observing programmes.

Since Webb began operating in late 2021, five University of Toledo faculty members and three graduate students have led 12 observing programmes on the infrared telescope. Smith expects PRIMA to provide another route into research on galaxy evolution, an area represented among the university’s astronomers.

For now, the project remains on the path toward a decision about implementation rather than a confirmed flight mission. If it clears that decision and stays within its proposed budget and schedule, PRIMA could give scientists a new view of the dust, elements and physical processes that shaped planets, stars and galaxies.