NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is due to launch Aug. 30. Here’s how it could transform what we know about the universe – and our place in it.
NASA’s next great space telescope could revolutionize the way humanity understands the universe and our place in it when it potentially begins its mission in a matter of days.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will soon join the ranks of iconic observatories like the Hubble and James Webb telescopes – plumbing the far reaches of the cosmos to answer some of life’s greatest mysteries. And yes, that includes the question of whether we on Earth are alone in the universe.
The barrel-shaped Roman telescope is due to set up operations nearly 1 million miles from Earth and begin scouring previously unobservable areas of the cosmos. Because every single image it beams back to Earth will contain the equivalent of 100 pictures Hubble would capture, Roman is envisioned to be capable of unveiling cosmic phenomena never before seen, including distant galaxies, stars and worlds beyond Earth’s solar system.
By shedding light on these dark corners, the observatory’s mission, NASA said, will then reveal not just how the universe developed over time, but where it’s headed.
Here’s what to know about NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and how it could alter our perception of the cosmos.
What is NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope?
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, due to launch Aug. 30 atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, represents NASA’s next flagship astrophysics mission. Managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the observatory is designed to explore the outer solar system and beyond – prying into the previously unobservable edge of the universe to study dark energy and search for exoplanets.
Who is Nancy Grace Roman?
Nancy Grace Roman was an American astronomer born in Nashville, Tennessee. The first female executive at NASA, Roman served as NASA’s first chief of astronomy until her retirement in 1979.
Roman, who died in 2018 at the age of 93, came to be known as the “mother of Hubble” due to her role in planning the iconic space telescope, according to NASA.
What will the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope do?
Roman’s primary objectives include revealing hundreds of more than a billion galaxies and studingy the nature of dark matter and dark energy, according to NASA. The observatory will also aim to find and study thousands of new exoplanets – or worlds beyond the solar system.
NASA will make all of Roman’s data available for anyone to peruse, meaning astronomers from all over the world will have the opportunity to make sue of the observatory for advanced research, NASA says.
“Roman, NASA’s newest space telescope, will change the way we see the universe and settle essential questions in astronomy, helping researchers understand how the universe has changed over time, what drives its expansion, and the worlds that exist beyond our solar system,” NASA explains.
How big is the telescope? How is it built?
Spanning 42 feet long and more than 14 feet wide, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is outfitted with two primary instruments:
- a wide multi-band 300-megapixel near-infrared camera known as the Wide Field Instrument that will allow scientists to look very far back in cosmic time and survey exoplanets;
- and the most powerful coronagraph to date, designed to reduce the glare from distant stars so it can photograph distant worlds that are could be nearly billion times fainter than their host star, as well as the debris disks orbiting them.
What orbit will the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope be in?
The telescope will make its observations while about 930,000 miles from Earth, facing in a direction opposite the sun. At this spot in space, known as the second sun-Earth Lagrange point (or L2,) gravitational forces balance to keep objects in steady orbits, according to NASA.
Why does NASA need another observatory?
Simply said, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has cutting-edge technology that will allow for scientists to observe the cosmos like never before.
With the capability of observing the cosmos with a wide field of view, Roman will generate first-of-their-kind images to help astronomers explore some of the greatest mysteries, including the unexplained expansion of the universe, according to NASA.
How will Nancy Grace Roman be different from Webb, Hubble?
While often compared to iconic observatories like the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes, Nancy Grace Roman will set itself apart.
NASA envisions that the Roman telescope will be a complement to both the Hubble and Webb observatories, exploring the same mysteries of the universe in different ways for a more complete picture. While Roman can can use its panoramic field of view to “offer a broad view of cosmic ecosystems and pinpoint rare objects,” Hubble and Webb can use their narrower views “to follow up on those uncommon objects for even more detailed observations,” according to NASA.
Hubble and Roman have primary mirrors that are the same size – 7.9 feet in diameter – but Roman’s will send light to its two science instruments that will not only provide images as crisp as Hubble’s, but over a field of view 100 times larger.
Put simply, Roman will be capable of capturing more of the sky with less observing time than Hubble. For that reason, NASA anticipates that Roman will image more than 50 times as much of the sky in the next five years as Hubble covered in three decades.
Because the primary mirror on the James Webb Space Telescope is so large (21 feet,) it can see farther back in time with higher resolution than Roman will be capable of doing.
How long will the telescope be in space?
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s primary mission is expected to last five years, though NASA designed it for a five-year extension.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com