Roman lifts off on a mission to survey the infrared sky

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on August thirtieth, twenty twenty-six. As ESA Space News reports, the telescope is now traveling toward a point one point five million kilometers from Earth to begin surveying the sky in visible and near-infrared light. The mission aims to investigate the nature of dark energy and dark matter, while also conducting a census of thousands of exoplanets. The telescope will undergo three months of testing and calibration before beginning its primary science operations.

Listen to this story

Hear this and more stories in a personalized audio briefing.

Open The Chonkerton