NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: Mission Overview

• The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a new astrophysics observatory designed to study dark energy, dark matter, and exoplanets.
• Scheduled to launch on Aug. 30, 2026, via a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center.
• The telescope will operate from the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L2), approximately 930,000 miles from Earth.

Mission Objectives

• Dark Energy: Investigating the mysterious force driving the accelerated expansion of the universe.
• Exoplanets: Searching for planets outside our solar system, including potential Earth-like candidates in habitable zones.
• Dark Matter: Observing the early formation of galaxies and clusters to understand the nature of the invisible 'glue' holding cosmic structures together.

Technology and Instruments

• Primary Mirror: A 7.9-foot (2.4-meter) mirror designed to gather high-resolution infrared light.
• Wide Field Instrument: A 300-megapixel infrared camera providing a vast, deep look into the history of the universe.
• Coronagraph Instrument: A powerful device capable of blocking star glare to image faint orbiting planets directly.

Nancy Grace Roman

• Known as the "mother of the Hubble Space Telescope."
• Served as NASA’s first chief astronomer and the agency’s first female executive.
• Played a central role in the development, funding, and construction of the Hubble mission.