The Download: NASA’s new telescope and Chinese tech import curbs
The MIT Technology Review newsletter highlights the upcoming launch of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which will study dark matter and dark energy while potentially aiding in planetary defense against asteroids. The edition also covers rising US scrutiny of Chinese data center hardware and the environmental impact of data center grid connectivity.
Why it matters
As space exploration technology advances, its dual-use potential for national security and planetary defense is becoming a critical intersection of science and geopolitics.
This is today's edition of The Download , our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology.
At the end of August, NASA is set to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Its quest is to help us better understand how the universe works, from the glue-like dark matter that keeps galaxies together to the elusive dark energy that drives the expansion of the cosmos.
But Roman could also serve another purpose: defending Earth from killer asteroids. In September, a multi-institutional team of planetary scientists and astronomers will outline how it’s uniquely placed to scan asteroids, and provide information about their trajectories, sizes and compositions.
Read our story about how this new space telescope might boost planetary defense.
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