The $488 million Spherex mission aims to explain how galaxies formed and evolved over billions of years, and how the universe expanded so fast in its first moments.

As the agency's SPHEREx space telescope and PUNCH solar mission rode toward their orbital stations at 10:09 p.m. EST (0209 March 9 GMT), members of mission control appeared elated, onlookers who caught a peek at the liftoff cheered, and the scientists who built these missions exuded a blend of relief and excitement.

NASA's SPHEREx observatory is now in space for a two year year mission to create a 3D map of the entire celestial sky. The telescope left the ground on top of a Falcon 9 rocket from a launch pad in California,