NASA’s newest flagship astronomical observatory, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, has been launched on a quest to solve some of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics and cosmology, including hunting for planets around other stars, exploring dark energy and scanning the cosmos. SpaceX, the aerospace company run by Elon Musk, launched the $4.3bn space telescope on a triple-the-fire-power Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in the US state of Florida just after dawn on Sunday. The rocket sped towards a location called Lagrange Point 2, where it is to join the Webb Space Telescope in orbit around the sun 1.6 million kilometres (1 million miles) from Earth at NASA’s premier deep-space vantage point.
It will take more than three months to get there. Its mission is planned for five years although the United States space agency said the telescope may have enough fuel for five additional years, given that the telescope is designed to be refuelled. If a robotic tanker becomes available in the coming decade, that could extend the Roman Telescope’s life.
The advanced, bus-sized telescope was designed to probe cosmic enigmas while also testing gravity at unprecedented scales and searching for exoplanets, which are planets beyond our solar system. It is expected to discover thousands of new ones and provide the first statistical census of planetary systems similar to our own. Astronomers expect Roman to shed light on the dark matter and dark energy that make up most of the universe yet remain invisible.
The universe’s contents include ordinary matter – stars, planets, gas, dust and all the familiar stuff on Earth – as well as dark matter and dark energy. Ordinary matter represents perhaps 5 percent of the universe’s contents. Dark matter, known through its gravitational influences on galaxies and stars, may represent about 27 percent.
Dark energy may represent about 68 percent. The telescope’s main survey, set to take more than a year to complete, will cover more than 2 billion galaxies. Roman’s catalogue of galaxies will help scientists ascertain how quickly the universe is expanding due to its perplexing and obscure forces.
Moments later, the telescope cleanly separated from the upper stage of the rocket, triggering an eruption of applause from ground control. The science mission director was in tears watching the action unfurl. Launching nearly a year ahead of schedule and within budget, Roman is NASA’s first space telescope to be named after a woman, NASA’s first chief astronomer, the late Nancy Grace Roman.
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