NASA Preps New Space Telescope With Spy Tech
NASA is preparing to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in 2026, which was originally developed by the National Reconnaissance Office. The telescope will study dark matter, dark energy, and rogue planets to better understand the evolution of the universe.
Why it matters
Repurposing high-end intelligence hardware for scientific research allows for unprecedented deep-space observation capabilities at a fraction of the original development cost.
NASA plans to soon launch a new space telescope that will survey a billion galaxies to trace how the universe evolved over time, all courtesy of America's spy program and decades of research into detector technology.
Professor and Director of the Rochester Imaging Detector Laboratory, Rochester Institute of Technology
The telescope, known as the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope , was first developed by the National Reconnaissance Office, before being transferred to NASA in 2012 . The intelligence agency no longer needed the hardware for its future missions, so it sent the unused telescope to NASA . The space agency spent over a decade making modifications and aims to launch the telescope into space as early as Aug. 30, 2026 .
Once in position, the telescope will take data that astronomers like me hope will help answer some of the field's most puzzling questions.
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