NASA launches powerful Roman Space Telescope, a spy satellite turned to the stars
A repurposed spy satellite heads for deep space as NASA launches the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to map dark matter, dark energy and more than two billion galaxies.
NASA successfully launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Sunday, August 30th, from Florida's Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The $4 billion project aims to map dark matter, dark energy, and over two billion galaxies over its planned five-year mission. Originally designed for a spy satellite program abandoned by its creators, the telescope was donated to NASA by the National Reconnaissance Office in 2012.
The Roman Space Telescope will orbit beyond the moon, where it will conduct panoramic surveys of the cosmos. Mission scientists will spend the next 90 days testing the telescope's systems before it begins its scientific observations. The telescope is expected to produce images comparable to those of the Hubble Space Telescope but will survey the entire Milky Way galaxy in a month, whereas Hubble would require a century.
Roman's main survey will map more than two billion galaxies in depth, providing crucial information about dark matter and dark energy, the two major mysteries in modern cosmology.
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- NASA launches powerful Roman Space Telescope, a spy satellite turned to the stars dailymaverick.co.za
- Liftoff! NASA's Roman Space Telescope soars to the stars on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in spectacular launch (video) space.com
- Roman Space Telescope promises 300-megapixel views of the cosmos cbsnews.com
- Roman Space Telescope launch today: Livestream details, when to watch mashable.com
- NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Telescope launches to space scientificamerican.com
