Cosmos · · 3 min read
NASA advances PRIMA far-infrared mission into Phase B
PRIMA has entered the next stage of development and could become NASA’s first Probe Explorers-class mission if it passes a later confirmation review.
NASA has moved the PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics, or PRIMA, into Phase B of development, allowing engineers and scientists to continue designing the mission and developing its technologies. The step does not yet guarantee that PRIMA will fly. Once this stage is complete, the project must pass a separate confirmation review before receiving approval to proceed as a mission.
If confirmed, PRIMA would open a new category within NASA’s Explorers program and become the first Probe Explorers-class mission. The spacecraft is intended to investigate the Universe in far-infrared light, a part of the spectrum that can reveal information unavailable through observations at shorter infrared wavelengths.
AERONAUT.media reported NASA Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate Nicola Fox describing PRIMA as a new way to investigate the Universe’s history. She said observations from the mission could improve scientists’ understanding of how planets, stars and black holes formed, as well as the origin of water on Earth.
A new scale of NASA mission
NASA organizes its missions according to their size, purpose and cost. The Explorers program has operated since Explorer 1 reached orbit in 1958 as the first American satellite to do so. Since then, the program has supported missions with a broad range of scientific aims.
PRIMA would establish another level within that structure. Its development follows a recommendation from the 2020 Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics, a report prepared by the US National Academies to set priorities for American astronomy and astrophysics over the following decade.
The Probe Explorers category is intended to support a mission larger in scope than the program’s smaller efforts while remaining distinct from NASA’s flagship-class observatories. PRIMA’s progress therefore represents both the development of one observatory and a test of a new mission model within the agency’s wider science program.
Filling an infrared gap
The James Webb Space Telescope already observes the Universe in near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelengths. PRIMA is being designed to extend that coverage into the far-infrared, giving researchers access to a different range of radiation from distant objects and environments.
The planned observatory would carry a telescope with a diameter of 1.8 metres. Its far-infrared focus is expected to help researchers examine the origins and development of exoplanets, galaxies and black holes. Scientists also hope it will clarify how material such as cosmic dust, gas and debris changed over time and contributed to the formation of the structures seen in the present-day Universe.
The value of those observations would come from adding another kind of evidence to the data gathered by existing and planned space telescopes. Far-infrared observations can serve as a way to study stages in cosmic history that are not fully accessible through near- or mid-infrared surveys alone. NASA says PRIMA would therefore complement, rather than replace, the capabilities of Webb and other observatories.
A long-term programme investment
NASA Astrophysics Division Director Shawn Domagal-Goldman said no single mission could resolve every question about the Universe. He presented PRIMA as part of a broader effort to expand far-infrared research and maintain a continuing programme of major space observatories.
NASA manages PRIMA through the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The mission is estimated to cost $1.2 billion. If development remains on schedule and the later confirmation decision is favourable, the spacecraft is expected to launch in 2033.
After reaching space, PRIMA is planned to operate for at least five years. That timeline would give researchers an extended opportunity to survey the far-infrared Universe and connect observations of distant cosmic objects with questions about their formation and evolution. For now, however, the project remains in development, and its eventual launch depends on completing Phase B and securing confirmation.