NASA is set to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Sunday from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, in a mission costing about $4 billion.
The launch is taking place nine months earlier than originally planned, according to NASA officials. Roman will build on the work of the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes, offering scientists a wider and faster view of the universe.
The telescope’s main survey is expected to cover more than two billion galaxies, helping researchers study how the universe has evolved and expanded and investigate the nature of dark matter and dark energy.
Scientists also expect Roman to test Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity by mapping how galaxies cluster and how gravity bends light across vast distances.
The telescope will conduct one of the most extensive searches for exoplanets ever undertaken and is expected to discover thousands of planets beyond our solar system.
After launch, Roman will travel to Lagrange Point 2, about 1.6 million kilometres from Earth, where it will operate alongside the James Webb Space Telescope.
The mission is planned to last five years, with NASA saying the telescope could potentially operate for another five years. It is named after Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first chief astronomer, who died in 2018 at the age of 93.
