NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was launched into space from Florida on Sunday aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, beginning a mission to investigate some of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics and cosmology.
The roughly $4 billion observatory lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center after earlier weather concerns. It will travel to Lagrange Point 2, about 1.6 million km from Earth, where it is expected to operate for at least five years. NASA said it may have enough fuel for another five years.
Roman will study dark energy and dark matter, test gravity on vast scales and search for exoplanets. Its main survey, expected to take more than a year, will cover more than two billion galaxies and help create the most comprehensive 3D map of the universe to date.
Scientists estimate that ordinary matter makes up about 5% of the universe, while dark matter accounts for about 27% and dark energy about 68%. Dark energy is the hypothesised force behind the accelerating expansion of the universe, while dark matter is known primarily through its gravitational effects.
Roman will complement NASA’s Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope. While Webb is designed for deep, highly sensitive observations, Roman will provide much wider views of the sky. NASA scientists compare Webb to a camera’s zoom lens and Roman to a wide-angle lens.
Roman is expected to discover thousands of exoplanets and provide a statistical census of planetary systems similar to our own. Scientists also expect the observatory to make discoveries that were not anticipated before its launch.
The telescope’s launch comes nine months ahead of schedule, according to NASA. Attempts by President Donald Trump’s administration during his first and second terms to reduce or eliminate funding for Roman were ultimately unsuccessful, with Congress preserving the project.