Roman Telescope Launches Space Mission
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy blasted off from Florida on Sunday carrying NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, beginning a landmark mission to explore some of the biggest mysteries in the universe.
Footage shows the Falcon Heavy being prepared for launch at Kennedy Space Centre before roaring into the sky with the Roman telescope aboard. The rocket’s components separate during the flight, while its boosters return for landing.
NASA Associate Administrator for Science Dr Nicky Fox said Roman could fundamentally change humanity’s understanding of the cosmos.
“Roman is going to revolutionise the way we look at our universe. It is going to measure dark matter, which is, I know that sounds bizarre, but it’s like the fabric of the universe. It’s the thing you can’t see, but we know it’s there. It’s going to measure dark energy, which kind of powers the universe,” said Dr Fox.
Telescope To Study Universe
Fox described the two forces as locked in a cosmic tug-of-war, with dark matter pulling the universe together and dark energy pushing it apart.
“And that will allow us to finally kind of explain our universe and understand our place in it,” she said.
The telescope will also search for worlds beyond our Solar System and survey huge areas of the distant universe.
“Not only that, it’s going to find a whole tonne, like tens of thousands of exoplanets, planets that we don’t even know are there, billions of galaxies, tens of billions of stars. It’s just a spectacular mission,” Fox said.
Falcon Heavy Powers Launch
The Falcon Heavy, developed by SpaceX, is one of the world’s most powerful operational rockets, combining a central Falcon 9 core with two side boosters. Designed for heavy payloads, it can generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, while its reusable boosters are capable of returning to Earth for landing.
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a next-generation observatory named after the agency’s first chief astronomer.
NASA TV, via Viory.Video
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