NASA is preparing to launch its next-generation Nancy Grace Roman space telescope from Florida aboard a SpaceX rocket on Sunday, August 30.
The observatory is scheduled to blast off at 1:26 p.m. French time and begin a journey to an orbital position 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. Once in position, the telescope will search for distant exoplanets while investigating the fundamental cosmological mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.
The mission will place Roman alongside Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope in the history of American space exploration. NASA chief Jared Isaacman said the observatory would provide Earth with a new atlas of the universe.
Engineers developed the wide-field instrument over more than a decade at a cost exceeding 4 billion dollars. It will orbit at a gravitational balance point far beyond the Moon, a location favored for space observatories because of its stable environment and clear view of deep space.
Wide view of the cosmos
The mission comes more than 35 years after the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, which fundamentally altered astronomy by proving that the universe is expanding faster than previously thought. Roman has been designed to address questions left unresolved by its predecessor.
Featuring a wide-angle optical system, the new telescope boasts a field of view more than 100 times greater than that of Hubble. This expansive vision allows the instrument to survey large swaths of the sky rapidly from its position 1.5 million kilometers away.
Mark Melton, a Roman systems engineer, told AFP in April that the spacecraft would send 11 terabytes of data back to Earth every day. He noted that during its first year of operations alone, Roman would yield more data than Hubble gathered over its entire lifespan.
Data collection and exoplanet survey
Nicky Fox, who directs scientific activities at NASA, explained that the agency intends to use the telescope to perform a broad census of celestial objects across the cosmos.
Fox said scientists expect the mission to discover tens of thousands of new planets orbiting distant stars. She added that the survey is also expected to locate thousands of supernovas, which are massive stars undergoing catastrophic explosions at the end of their stellar lives.
Exoplanets are planets located outside our solar system, while supernovas serve as vital cosmic distance markers that help astronomers measure how the universe expands over time.
Investigating dark matter and dark energy
Beyond searching for worlds, Roman is built to study invisible cosmic phenomena. Physicists estimate that dark matter and dark energy together account for approximately 95 percent of the universe, yet their true origin remains unknown.
Using advanced infrared vision, the telescope will capture light emitted by distant celestial structures billions of years ago. By looking back across cosmic time, researchers hope to trace how these mysterious forces shaped the evolution of the cosmos.
Darryl Seligman, an astronomy researcher and lecturer at the University of Michigan, told AFP that the observatory would allow scientists to analyze how dark matter structures itself across cosmic epochs. He added that Roman would also measure the speed at which distant galaxies are moving away from Earth.
Julie McEnery, an astrophysicist leading the Roman telescope project, said current observational data suggests that the standard model of cosmology may be incorrect. She noted that Roman would be capable of confirming these discrepancies and pointing astronomers toward a correct framework.
Legacy of Nancy Grace Roman
NASA named the mission in honor of Nancy Grace Roman, one of America's most influential astronomers. Known as the mother of Hubble, she served as NASA's first chief of astronomy and spent decades advocating for space-based observatories.
The upcoming launch aboard a SpaceX rocket marks the culmination of more than ten years of engineering work. Once operational, Roman will work in tandem with existing space observatories to transform humanity's understanding of the cosmos.
