A new NASA observatory launched into space Tuesday on a mission that could help scientists unravel what happened in the first fractions of a second after the Big Bang.

SpaceX and NASA successfully launched the agency’s newest space telescope and solar research mission Tuesday evening. A Falcon 9 lifted off from California with the SPHEREx near-infrared observatory,

A NASA telescope was launched into space from California on Tuesday for a mission to explore the origins of the universe and to scour the Milky Way galaxy for hidden reservoirs of water, a key ingredient for life.