NASA’s Roman Space Telescope launches to map the hidden universe

NASA’s newest space telescope began its journey Sunday with a thunderous Falcon Heavy launch and a mission to survey the universe on a scale no previous space observatory has matched.

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It’s going to find thousands of supernovae, tens of thousands of planets, billions of galaxies and tens of billions of stars.

SpaceX sent the $4.3 billion Roman Space Telescope into space shortly after daybreak from Kennedy Space Center. The bus-sized observatory is heading toward an observation point about 1 million miles, or 1.6 million kilometers, away, where the James Webb Space Telescope also operates. Roman will take more than three months to reach its destination.

Named for Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first chief astronomer, the telescope will search for planets around other stars and examine the forces known as dark matter and dark energy. Scientists expect it to find thousands of supernovae, tens of thousands of planets, billions of galaxies and tens of billions of stars.

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It’s going to be able to do things that we’ve never been able to do before with its massive field of view.

“It’s going to be able to do things that we’ve never been able to do before with its massive field of view,” said Nicky Fox, NASA’s science mission director. Roman’s view will span more than 100 times the area captured by Hubble, while Webb will provide more detailed observations of newly identified worlds and distant objects.

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It’s such a good day!

The launch also featured the return of Falcon Heavy’s two reusable side boosters, which landed tail-first at Cape Canaveral after producing sharp sonic booms. The telescope separated successfully from the rocket’s upper stage, prompting applause from ground controllers. “It’s such a good day!” Fox said. Roman’s observations will be combined with work by Webb, the European Space Agency’s Euclid spacecraft and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile.

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We’ll redefine what it means to find a needle in a haystack.