NASA's Just Launched Nancy Grace Roman Telescope Set To Begin Best Astronomy Era Yet

 

    SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launches NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Telescope  Sunday

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration launched a new flagship telescope yesterday: a powerful observatory that will study dark matter and hunt for exoplanets, from an orbit about one million miles from Earth.

A SpaceX rocket took off with the $4.6b instrument, called the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, just before 7:30 a.m. ET Sunday from a launchpad in Florida. The launch went smoothly, setting up the 8m aperture telescope to fly out to the L2 Lagrange point. This is one of 5 Lagrange points, named after the mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange, e.g.

As seen in the graphic above, three Lagrange points (L1, L2 and L3) lie along the line of centers connecting the two major bodies, in this case the Sun (bright center) and Earth.  These are called "unstable" Lagrange points, while L4 and L5 are stable points.  All the points represent locations in space where the gravitational forces of a 2-body system (e.g. Sun-Earth) produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion. Locating a point of 'balance' means a spacecraft can then remain in position and reduce fuel expenditure. 

As NASA reports:

Roman pairs a large field of view with crisp infrared vision to explore vast swaths of the sky and probe deeply into cosmic history. This flagship mission will help astronomers explore dark matter, dark energy, and worlds outside of our solar system, known as exoplanets. Its surveys will support a broad range of research extending far beyond the mission’s main science goals.

“Roman is exactly the kind of success story we want to see across NASA,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. Adding:

“Roman will give us a new atlas of the universe, push the boundaries of discovery, and demonstrate what is possible when America’s space program pairs bold ambition with disciplined execution.”

In the words of Nicky Fox, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

“With its large field of view and fast survey speeds, Roman will usher us into a new era of discovery and make the invisible visible, setting the foundation for humanity’s search for life beyond our solar system.”

During launch and early orbit, Roman uses the Near Space Network’s ground stations and relay satellites to exchange tracking, telemetry, and command data with ground controllers. About 70 minutes after launch, the Deep Space Network takes over communications and guides Roman toward the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, or L2, about one million miles from Earth. 

Ironically, or perhaps not, Trump wanted to cancel this once- in -a lifetime project to "save money". (As if he knew anything about that!) Fortunately, according to a WSJ piece, more sober heads in Congress weren't having it and allowed it to go forward.  Amazing what some courage and a working spine can do!

  For sure the Grace Roman Telescope's orbital position at the L2 Lagrange point (which it will reach in about 100 days) will afford us access to previously undetected exoplanets, perhaps as many as 200,000 more - as well as possibly piercing the physical mystery underpinning dark matter and dark energy and their relationship.  I look forward - at least so long as I am around - to experiencing one of the most productive and exciting astronomy periods ever.

Stay tuned! 

See Also:

Fantastic New Images of Distant Cosmic Objects Prove Webb Telescope's $10b Worth

And:

The Vera Rubin Observatory Unveils New Astronomical Frontiers With A New Kind Of Telescope

And:

Alien Worlds: The Top Exoplanet Discoveries of 2013 | Space

And:

A Possible Exoplanet In Another Galaxy Identified Using Chandra X-Ray Telescope Records

And:

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