NASA's Roman telescope to launch August 30 carrying 1,350,144 names
NASA's new Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is set to launch on August 30, 2026, and it is taking 1,350,144 names into space, including those of Artemis Moon astronauts.
The plaque is a tribute to Dr. Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first chief astronomer and a pioneering leader who championed placing observatories in orbit and is often called the "mother" of the Hubble Space Telescope.
The rocket heads out from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
Roman telescope maps billions of galaxies
After launch, the Roman Telescope will travel about 1 million miles to its observation spot at L2.
From there, it will map billions of galaxies and hunt for thousands of exoplanets using a camera that covers 100 times more sky than Hubble's.
Scientists hope it will unlock mysteries about dark energy and dark matter, all under the watchful eye of NASA's Goddard team.