NASA’s Roman telescope begins 100-day journey to map the cosmos
At a glance
- NASA has launched its new flagship Roman Space Telescope.
- The $4 billion observatory will map the cosmos and study dark matter.
- It will take about 100 days to reach its orbit 1.5 million km from Earth.
Story so far
NASA successfully launched its new flagship observatory, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, on Sunday from Florida. The state-of-the-art telescope, which cost over $4 billion, was carried into space by a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. It is now on a 100-day journey to an orbit 1.5 million km from Earth. Its primary mission is to investigate cosmic mysteries like dark energy and dark matter, and to discover thousands of new exoplanets, building on the work of the Hubble and Webb telescopes with a much wider field of view.
Latest development
NASA's newly launched Roman Space Telescope is now on a 100-day journey to its observation point 1.5 million km from Earth. The observatory, which cost over $4 billion, will create a new map of the cosmos, searching for dark matter, exoplanets, and tens of thousands of supernovae.
Latest updates
Following its successful launch on Sunday, new details have emerged about the mission of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. US President Donald Trump commented on the project on Friday, stating it "will help unlock the secrets of the universe."
The telescope, developed over more than a decade at a cost topping $4 billion, is now on a 100-day journey to its operational orbit 1.5 million kilometres from Earth. According to mission officials, the observatory aims to discover tens of thousands of supernovae in addition to thousands of exoplanets. Dave Content, the telescope's technical manager, told AFP it will help create the "biggest catalog of astronomical objects anybody's ever produced."
Sources and updates
Nasa launches new telescope to map cosmos
SPACEX launches Roman on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.—X/SpaceX • Roman designed to shed light on ‘unsolved mysteries’ including dark matter and dark energy • Also aims to discover thousands of exoplanets and supe
NASA launches powerful new Roman Space Telescope from Florida
CAPE CANAVERAL: NASA’s new flagship astronomical observatory was launched into space from Florida on Sunday on a mission to probe some of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics and cosmology. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a roughly $4 billion
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