NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

Why in News?
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on August 30, 2026.

Key Points

• Named after: Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first Chief Astronomer and often called the “Mother of Hubble.”
• Cost: Around $4.3 billion.
• Mission duration: Designed for at least five years of scientific observations.
• Major objective: To study dark energy, dark matter, exoplanets and the evolution of the universe.
• Infrared astronomy: Roman is designed primarily for wide-field infrared observations.
• Field of view: Its field of view is far larger than Hubble’s, allowing it to survey billions of stars and galaxies efficiently.
• Coronagraph: A specialised instrument that blocks the bright light of stars, enabling the detection and study of faint exoplanets and planet-forming disks.
• Scientific significance: It may discover previously unknown galaxies and exoplanets and improve understanding of the accelerating expansion of the universe.

Source: NASA

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