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NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has begun its journey into space to investigate some of the universe’s greatest mysteries, including dark matter and dark energy.
The powerful telescope was successfully launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Roman will be capable of capturing images of much larger areas of the universe at once than the Hubble Space Telescope, with a field of view at least 100 times wider.
Following the launch, scientists confirmed that the telescope’s solar panels and sunshield had been successfully deployed. Other onboard systems will be activated and tested over the coming weeks.
Once fully operational, Roman is expected to transmit about 1.4 terabytes of data to Earth every day. However, the public will have to wait until early 2027 to see its first images.
Nicky Fox, head of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said Roman would open a new frontier of discovery and help scientists address some of the deepest questions about cosmic history.
With its wide field of view and rapid observation capabilities, the telescope will survey previously unexplored regions of the universe and could help lay the groundwork for the search for life beyond the solar system.
In addition to studying dark matter and the mysterious dark energy driving the accelerated expansion of the universe, Roman will search for new planets and examine the early stages of planet formation.
Scientists expect the telescope to analyse light from around one billion galaxies during its mission, potentially providing unprecedented insights into the evolution and structure of the universe.
