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Nasa space telescope set to launch after surviving Trump budget cuts
The Guardian • • general
Key Points:
- The $4.3 billion Nancy Grace Roman space telescope is scheduled to launch from Florida early Sunday, embarking on a mission to study exoplanets and planetary formation, joining NASA's Hubble and James Webb telescopes.
- Roman features a 300-megapixel infrared camera with a field of view 100 times larger than Hubble’s, and a coronagraph to block starlight, enabling detailed imaging of planets around other stars.
- The telescope will operate from Lagrange point 2, about one million miles from Earth, complementing Hubble and Webb by providing wide-field panoramic views and identifying targets for more detailed follow-up observations.
- Roman’s mission, expected to last at least five years, aims to explore dark matter, dark energy, and exoplanets, with data made publicly available to both scientists and amateur astronomers.
- Despite facing proposed budget cuts under the Trump administration that threatened its development, Congress restored funding for the project, though future NASA science budgets remain uncertain amid ongoing political challenges.
