NASA is preparing to launch the Roman Space Telescope this Sunday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. This represents the agency's most ambitious scientific mission since the 2021 launch of the James Webb Space Telescope.
The $4.3 billion telescope is designed for a multi-year mission to create a vast new map of the cosmos. Featuring a field of view far wider than Hubble’s, the telescope's wide, deep gaze will allow astronomers to study the dark universe and hunt for new worlds.
The mission aims to shed light on two of the biggest mysteries in physics: dark matter and dark energy. Additionally, the telescope is expected to discover tens of thousands of exoplanets while searching for supernovae.