NASA's Roman telescope set to launch on cosmic mapping mission
NASA is preparing to launch its new flagship space telescope on Sunday, embarking on a multiyear mission to create an unprecedented map of the cosmos and shed light on some of the biggest mysteries in physics.
NASA is preparing to launch its new flagship space telescope on Sunday, embarking on a multiyear mission to create an unprecedented map of the cosmos and shed light on some of the biggest mysteries in physics.
The short version
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- Designed to take a panoramic view of the vast reaches of space, the Roman Space Telescope "will help unlock the secrets of the universe," U.S.
- President Donald Trump said Friday during a ceremony at NASA headquarters in Houston, Texas.
What happened
Standing more than 12 meters (39 feet) tall, the state-of-the-art observatory is scheduled to launch from Florida at 7:26 a.m. (1126 GMT) aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Developed over more than a decade at a cost topping $4 billion, the telescope is named after pioneering U.S. astronomer Nancy Grace Roman, who became known as the "Mother of Hubble," another of NASA's flagship telescopes.
Why it matters
While Hubble revealed that the universe is expanding faster than previously thought, Roman will seek to answer some of the other unsolved mysteries, including those of dark matter and dark energy.
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