A massive observatory that scientists have called a “discovery machine” is set to launch toward the cosmos, beginning a journey that could mark a significant shift in our understanding of the universe.
Designed to seek out otherwise invisible and faint space objects, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is expected to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket as soon as 7:26 a.m. ET Sunday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Over the next five years, the bus-size telescope’s observations could reveal answers to enduring mysteries such as dark energy, which fuels the inexplicable accelerating expansion of the universe, and dark matter, which provides the cosmos with structure but remains unseen. It could allow astronomers to spot previously unseen galaxies and exoplanets, worlds around stars beyond our solar system, as well rogue planets that don’t orbit stars at all.
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