Falcon Heavy

As the newest heavy hitter in orbital observatories continues the journey to its final destination, NASA has begun the process of switching the spacecraft on. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched on Aug. 30, and is on a three-month long trek to Lagrange point two (L2). L2 is a relatively idle orbital sweet spot almost a million miles from Earth that will allow Roman to remain on the planet's night side and keep the bright sun to its back. It's an optimal location for the telescope to operate its two primary instruments , the Wide Field Instrument (WFI) and its Coronagraph Instrument…

NASA's newly launched Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is set to extend its lifespan and double its exciting potential for discovery thanks to an efficient use of fuel on its way to its final orbit. "As a result of exquisite planning by our orbital dynamics team, brilliant execution by the operations team, and a precise launch from SpaceX, Roman has fuel for at least 22 years of potential science operations," said Jamie Dunn, the center director at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in a statement . The space telescope, which launched from Cape Canaveral on Aug. 30 on a mission to measure…

More good news for NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The telescope's first mid-course correction was extremely efficient, using only 10% of the fuel allotted for it. This efficiency, coupled with other factors, means the powerful space telescope will likely have an additional ~12 years of observing time.

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope successfully launched on Sunday, Aug. 30, atop a SpaceX… The post Roman telescope deploys solar array and communication systems, powers on Coronagraph Instrument appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

A brand new observatory began its tenure on Aug. 30 — it's called the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and it's equipped with a high-tech tool that can directly photograph planets beyond our solar system. The tool is called a coronagraph; in simple terms, a coronagraph is a device that can be affixed to a telescope and block out the light of a star the telescope is looking at to study features around that star. Without such a device, starlight can be so overpowering that it outshines details nearby. You can think of a coronagraph as a way to recreate a total solar eclipse, except instead of…

This might look like a rocket launching off Earth, but it's actually a rocket booster perfectly landing on our planet after fulfilling its duty. (Image credit: Chelsea Gohd) On Aug. 30, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket — then, after completing their job, the rocket's boosters safely landed back on Earth. Watching the events unfold, Space.com's Chelsea Gohd caught one of these beautiful landings on camera as onlookers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center watched in awe. What is it? The Roman Space Telescope is NASA's next great observatory,…

Now on a three-month, million-mile journey to its final orbit, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will soon reveal the universe’s darkest secrets. The mission launched at 7:26 a.m. EDT on Aug. 30 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Roman pairs a large […]

Fire spews from the 27 Merlin engines of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket during the launch of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Aug. 30, 2026. (Image credit: SpaceX) SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket can generate some serious thrust, leading to incredible displays of fireworks as seen in the photo above. What is it? In this photo, the 27 Merlin engines of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket spew fire as they generate the thrust that sent NASA's revolutionary Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to orbit on a picture-perfect morning launch on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. Falcon Heavy sent Roman to a…

NASA's next big space telescope is not only meant to unlock some of the mysteries of dark energy. It also is a pioneer in the naming of missions. Scientific American recently said that the observatory, which launched on Aug. 30 , is the first ever space telescope ever named after a real-life woman: American astronomer Nancy Grace Roman , who supported development of the iconic Hubble Space Telescope and was NASA's first head of astronomy in the 1960s. The story is very different when it comes to men. For example, NASA's "Great Observatories," which launched between 1990 and 2003, were all…

The SpaceX Falcon Heavy carrying NASA's Roman Space Telescope crosses the face o the sun as it launches to space from Pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in this photo taken by Space.com's Josh Dinner from a Titusville Hobby Lobby parking lot. Here's how he did it. (Image credit: Space.com / Josh Dinner) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Standing in the parking lot of the Titusville Hobby Lobby was maybe something I should have planned on before traveling to Florida for the launch of NASA's Nancy Roman Grace Space Telescope, but it was not where I expected to be until I was speeding there in…

NASA's next big space telescope has left Earth, but it's not ready to start observing the heavens just yet. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched yesterday (Aug. 30), riding a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket into the heavens . Astronomers are very excited about Roman, for it's expected to discover thousands of new exoplanets and shed light on mysterious dark energy and dark matter, among other accomplishments. Such science work is a few months off, however. Here's a brief rundown of the next steps for the Roman team. A diagram showing Roman at Lagrange point 2, between Earth and Mars.…

The observatory will shed new light on the mystery of dark energy, observe distant exoplanets, and explore the structure of the universe.