NASA readies Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope for August launch
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a massive project that's had more than $4.3 billion invested in it over 20 years, is gearing up for launch on August 30, 2026.
Designed to explore everything from how the universe expands to spotting distant exoplanets, it's named after Dr. Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first chief of astronomy and a real pioneer.
Roman telescope to scan 100,000 exoplanets
Roman will have a field of view at least 100 times bigger than Hubble, letting scientists scan over 100,000 exoplanets and billions of galaxies in just five years.
Its surveys will map the Milky Way's core and build a detailed 3-D map of the cosmos.
Plus, it'll help hunt for rogue planets and isolated black holes, giving scientists fresh clues about dark matter, dark energy and the expansion of the universe.
Roman telescope at Goddard for checkouts
The telescope finished construction last December and is now getting its final checkups at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center before heading to Kennedy Space Center for launch.
All systems need to be a go, so this ambitious mission can kick off without a hitch!