"A giant leap forward": Nasa launches powerful new space telescope to explore mysteries of the Universe
NASA successfully launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from Florida to study dark energy, black holes, and exoplanets. The telescope features a field of view 100 times larger than previous observatories and will operate from a position one million miles from Earth.
Why it matters
This mission represents a significant advancement in space exploration technology, potentially identifying thousands of new exoplanets.
Figure caption, Watch: Nasa launches Roman telescope from Kennedy Space Center
Nasa's powerful next-generation telescope has blasted off into space from its launchpad in Florida, with a mission to explore dark energy, black holes and other mysteries of the Universe.
The Nancy Grace Roman telescope will capture vast panoramic views of space, with a field of vision 100 times larger than both the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes, Nasa says.
The mission begins with a 100-day journey to a vantage point roughly one million miles from Earth, where the telescope will then start charting planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets.
"Roman is going to change the way we look at the Universe," said Nicky Fox, a Nasa administrator.
Image source, NASA/John Kraus "It is going to discover tens of thousands, maybe even 100,000 new exoplanets."
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