Nasa has officially finished building its next massive eye in the sky, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
This powerhouse observatory is now fully assembled at the Goddard Space Flight Center after years of meticulous work by over a thousand engineers.
With its launch scheduled for late 2026, the Roman telescope is ready to change how we see the cosmos.
WHAT MAKES THE ROMAN TELESCOPE SO SPECIAL?
The magic of this telescope lies in its vision. While it has a primary mirror measuring 2.4 metres across, the same size as the legendary Hubble, it is significantly more advanced.
Roman can capture images that are 100 times larger than Hubble’s field of view in a single shot. This means it can map the Great Unknown hundreds of times faster than its predecessor.
It uses infrared light to peer through thick cosmic dust, allowing us to see objects that are otherwise invisible to the human eye.
HOW WILL THE NEW INSTRUMENTS FIND ALIEN WORLDS?
Roman carries two primary tools: the Wide Field Instrument and the Coronagraph Instrument.
The Wide Field Instrument is a 288-megapixel camera that will hunt for dark energy and map billions of galaxies.
Meanwhile, the Coronagraph is a technological marvel designed to block out the blinding glare of distant stars.
By doing this, it can reveal the faint light of planets orbiting those stars, helping scientists photograph giant worlds that are older and colder than any we have directly imaged before.
WHY IS TESTING IN EXTREME CONDITIONS NECESSARY?
Before it heads to the stars, the observatory must prove it can survive the trip. Engineers have already put the components through “shake and bake” tests.
This involves placing the hardware on vibration tables to simulate the violent tremors of a rocket launch and inside vacuum chambers to mimic the freezing, airless environment of space.
Now that the inner and outer segments are joined, the entire unit will undergo one final round of rigorous checks before moving to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
WHEN WILL ROMAN BEGIN ITS MISSION IN SPACE?
The team is aiming for a launch in the autumn of 2026. Once it reaches its destination, Roman will spend five years scanning the sky.
Scientists expect it to find over 1,00,000 distant planets and provide a treasure trove of data. For those interested in the mysteries of the universe, this mission marks the beginning of a new era in space exploration.
