NASA’s newest space telescope blasted off Sunday on a mission to search for planets beyond our solar system, investigate the mysterious forces driving cosmic expansion and map the universe in unprecedented detail.
SpaceX launched the $4.3 billion Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope shortly after sunrise aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The telescope is headed for an observation point about 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometres) from Earth, where NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is also stationed.
Named after Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first chief astronomer, the bus-sized observatory will take more than three months to reach its destination. Once operational, it is expected to provide the broadest view yet of the universe from space and survey vast regions at a speed unmatched by previous space telescopes.
NASA science mission director Nicky Fox said Roman is expected to detect thousands of supernovae, tens of thousands of planets, billions of galaxies and tens of billions of stars.
Its ability to observe an enormous area of the sky will allow scientists to investigate objects and phenomena that previous telescopes could not study as efficiently.
Minutes after launch, the rocket’s two reusable side boosters returned to Cape Canaveral, landing vertically with loud sonic booms.
Roman’s field of view is more than 100 times wider than that of the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been observing the universe for 36 years. The James Webb Space Telescope, meanwhile, offers a narrower but highly detailed view and can examine extremely distant objects dating back close to the beginning of the universe.
Scientists expect the three NASA observatories, working alongside the European Space Agency’s Euclid spacecraft and the National Science Foundation’s Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, to provide new insights into some of astronomy’s biggest unanswered questions.
Roman will search across vast numbers of galaxies for stars that host planets. Once potentially interesting worlds are identified, Webb will be able to conduct more detailed observations of them.
Senior project scientist Julie McEnery said Roman’s exceptionally wide reach would help scientists locate rare and unusual objects that are difficult to detect.
One of the mission’s major goals is to investigate dark matter and dark energy, two poorly understood components believed to account for most of the universe. By mapping huge numbers of galaxies, scientists hope to better understand how the universe is expanding and the role played by these invisible forces.
Speed is another major advantage of Roman.
McEnery said observations that would take Hubble roughly a century to complete could be carried out by Roman in about a month. The telescope is expected to rapidly survey the dense central region of the Milky Way, offering scientists the deepest view yet of the galaxy’s heart.
Roman will carry a wide-field infrared camera with sensitivity comparable to Hubble but capable of surveying the sky about 1,000 times faster. It will also feature an experimental coronagraph designed to block the light from stars, potentially allowing scientists to directly observe faint planets orbiting them.
The telescope has also been designed with the possibility of future refuelling. If robotic servicing technology becomes available in the next decade, its operational life could potentially be extended.
The launch came nearly a year earlier than originally scheduled and within budget. Roman is also the first NASA space telescope to be named after a woman.
Retired NASA scientist Ed Weiler, who was hired by Roman in 1978, described the naming as long overdue. He helped popularise the term “Mother of Hubble” for Roman, who strongly advocated space-based observatories after joining the newly established NASA in 1959.
Roman died in 2018 at the age of 93.
Weiler said the mission was a fitting tribute to Roman and expressed confidence that she would have been proud to see the telescope bearing her name investigate questions such as the nature of dark energy.
Hubble was launched in 1990 with a flawed primary mirror that later required astronauts to conduct repairs in space. Roman’s primary mirror, measuring nearly 8 feet (2.4 metres) across, is the same size as Hubble’s.
The mirror was originally produced for a spy satellite programme. More than a decade ago, the US National Reconnaissance Office donated two surplus mirrors to NASA for potential scientific use. The second mirror remains in storage.