The American space agency NASA has successfully launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The telescope launched on Sunday from Launch Complex 39A at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA, using a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. According to Indian time, the launch took place around 16:57.
Following the successful launch, the Roman Space Telescope began its journey to its destination in space. It is planned to be placed near the Sun-Earth-2 Lagrange point (L2), approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. The telescope is expected to take about a month to reach this point.
Location 1.5 Million km from Earth
The Roman Telescope will not orbit the Earth like a typical satellite. It will be positioned in a specific orbit in the L2 region between the Sun and Earth. This location will provide the telescope with an extensive and relatively unobstructed view of space. During its journey to L2, Roman will use its onboard propulsion systems to make necessary adjustments to reach the designated trajectory.
However, scientific research will not begin immediately upon arrival in the L2 zone. NASA will conduct about three months of commissioning procedures. During this time, engineers will check and activate all the telescope's systems and scientific equipment. After confirming the correct operation of all systems, it will be ready for scientific missions.
What is special about the Roman Space Telescope?
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is designed not to focus on one specific celestial object, but to survey very large areas of the sky. Its primary mirror diameter is 2.4 meters, comparable to the mirror of the Hubble Space Telescope. However, its main feature is the Wide Field Instrument. It is capable of observing an area that is at least 100 times larger than Hubble's in a single shot. This will allow scientists to collect data from vast regions of the Universe in a relatively short time.
Key objectives of the Roman Telescope include studying two great mysteries of the Universe—dark energy and dark matter. Additionally, it will help understand galaxy evolution and discover exoplanets located outside our solar system.
How is it different from James Webb?
The James Webb Space Telescope is known for its ability to study specific celestial bodies in detail, whereas the role of the Roman Telescope will be different. Roman will paint a general picture of the Universe by simultaneously surveying vast areas of space. After completing commissioning and testing, Roman will begin its scientific surveys. The data obtained is expected to help scientists find answers to many fundamental questions in astronomy and create a large-scale map of the Universe.