NASA’s newest space telescope launches on a quest to explore the hidden universe

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA launched its newest space telescope on Sunday to seek out planets orbiting distant stars, delve into the mystery of dark energy, and map the cosmos like never before. The $4.3 billion Roman Space Telescope, named after the late Nancy Grace Roman, the agency's first chief astronomer, blasted off aboard a powerful Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center.

Measuring over 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) away, the Roman telescope will spend three months traveling to its spot in space, where it will boast the largest field of view of any space telescope ever built. With a view more than 100 times wider than Hubble's, Roman will survey the hidden parts of the universe, uncovering thousands of supernovae, tens of thousands of planets, billions of galaxies, and stars.

Roman's wide-field infrared camera is 1,000 times faster than Hubble's, allowing it to complete the Milky Way observations in just a month, whereas Hubble would take a century. The telescope will also feature an experimental coronagraph capable of directly imaging faint planets orbiting their host stars.

The Roman Space Telescope will collaborate with other space observatories, including NASA's Webb Space Telescope, as well as the European Space Agency's Euclid spacecraft and the National Science Foundation's Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. Together, these telescopes will work to unravel the universe's greatest mysteries, such as the nature of dark matter and dark energy, which make up most of the cosmos but remain elusive.