NASA’s Roman Space Telescope launched from Florida on Sunday aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, beginning a major mission to investigate some of the universe’s deepest mysteries.
The roughly $4 billion observatory lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center under mostly clear skies. The mission will examine dark energy, dark matter and planets beyond our solar system.
Roman will travel about 1.6 million kilometres from Earth to an orbital region known as Lagrange Point 2. NASA plans to operate the telescope for at least five years, with enough fuel potentially extending the mission for another five years.
A New View of the Universe
Roman will complement the work of the Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope.
NASA describes Roman as a wide-angle camera compared with Webb’s more zoomed-in view. Roman will scan huge areas of the sky while maintaining image quality similar to Hubble.
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Julie McEnery, Roman’s senior project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said the telescope could survey the entire Milky Way in about one month.
Hubble would require roughly a century to complete the same survey, she said.
NASA science chief Nicola Fox compared the difference by saying Hubble and Webb looked at the universe “through a keyhole”, while Roman would “kick the door down”.
Mapping Dark Energy and Dark Matter
One of Roman’s main goals involves two of the universe’s biggest mysteries: dark matter and dark energy.
Scientists believe ordinary matter makes up only about 5% of the universe. Dark matter accounts for roughly 27%, while dark energy makes up about 68%.
Dark matter does not emit or reflect light, but scientists can detect its gravitational influence on galaxies and stars.
Dark energy remains even more mysterious. Scientists believe it drives the accelerating expansion of the universe.
Roman will create one of the most detailed three-dimensional maps of the cosmos ever produced. Its main survey will examine more than two billion galaxies over more than a year.
Thousands of Exoplanets
The telescope will also conduct a major search for exoplanets, which orbit stars beyond our solar system.
NASA expects Roman to discover thousands of new planets. The observations could also provide the first broad statistical picture of planetary systems similar to our own.
Scientists say Roman’s large field of view could reveal discoveries that researchers cannot predict before the mission begins.
Cosmologist Mustapha Ishak of the University of Texas at Dallas said major observatories have historically produced some of their most important discoveries in unexpected areas.
Mission Launches Ahead of Schedule
Roman’s launch comes nine months earlier than NASA’s previous schedule.
The project faced funding challenges during both of Donald Trump’s presidential terms, including proposals to reduce or eliminate its funding. Congress ultimately preserved the programme.
With Roman now on its way to space, scientists expect the observatory to provide a broader view of the cosmos and help answer fundamental questions about how the universe formed, evolved and continues to expand.
