NASA launches Roman telescope aboard SpaceX Falcon Heavy Aug 30
NASA is launching its new Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on August 30, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
After liftoff at 5:50pm IST, the telescope will travel for a month to reach its observation spot (1.5 million kilometers away at the Sun-Earth L2 point) where it will travel around the Sun while maintaining a useful position relative to Earth.
Wide field maps billions of galaxies
Once in place, the Roman Telescope will scan the universe in infrared to help scientists figure out mysteries like dark energy, dark matter, and distant exoplanets.
Its Wide Field Instrument can capture views at least 100 times larger than Hubble's, letting it map billions of galaxies and hunt for new worlds over five years.
Named for Nancy Grace Roman
The telescope is named after Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first chief astronomer and the first woman to hold an executive position at the agency.
As NASA put it together recently (fueling it up with about 1,100-liter of hydrazine), it is clear her legacy is still reaching for the stars.