'The possibilities are truly breathtaking': NASA's Roman Space Telescope will take better images and last longer than experts predicted
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could capture images 30% sharper than — and remain operational for twice as long as — initially expected. Researchers say these "remarkable" developments could greatly enhance the volume and quality of the data they will analyze.
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is nearing its destination over 1 million miles away, where it will search for a variety of cosmic phenomena, potentially uncovering 100,000 new exoplanets. Astronomers are thrilled to learn the telescope is performing beyond expectations, according to Eamonn Kerins, an astronomer at the University of Manchester leading one of the telescope's major surveys.
Roman, the latest flagship space telescope from NASA, outperforms its predecessors like Hubble and JWST. The $4 billion machine, which is 42 feet long and weighs as much as a Tyrannosaurus rex, launched on Aug. 30 from Florida and is now en route to Lagrange point 2, where it will join other spacecraft. Recent developments suggest Roman's image quality will be 30% better than predicted, and its mission may last twice as long as initially expected, thanks to precise rocket burns that saved fuel and its lighter-than-anticipated weight.
This extended lifespan could enable Roman to capture images every few years, allowing astronomers to study changes in the universe with unprecedented detail.
Written by urgent.news from Live Science's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
