MD-Built Telescope Blasts Off On Million-Mile Space Journey

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is officially on its way to uncovering the darkest secrets of the cosmos after blasting off from Florida's Cape Canaveral over the weekend.

Built in Maryland, the bus-sized telescope successfully launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at 7:26 a.m. Sunday, launching from Complex 39A.

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The telescope is currently on a three-month trip to L2, its first observation point that's located about a million miles away and also serves as the home of the James Webb Space Telescope.

The Roman Space Telescope will help NASA scientists explore dark matter, dark energy, and a multitude of exoplanets.

"Delivered ahead of schedule and on budget, this mission reflects more than a decade of dedication from the NASA workforce and our industry partners," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a release.

"Now, Roman will give us a new atlas of the universe, push the boundaries of discovery, and demonstrate what is possible when America's space program pairs bold ambition with disciplined execution."

"Roman is exactly the kind of success story we want to see across NASA," he said.

Plans For Roman Space Telescope

Once arriving at L2, the telescope will cast the widest gaze yet on the hidden parts of the universe from space, uncovering the unimaginable with unsurpassed speed.

Roman's field of view is more than 100 times wider than that of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, still churning out celestial glamour shots after 36 years in orbit. Webb joined the effort several years ago with an even narrower yet spot-on vision capable of zooming in on objects almost as old as the universe-creating Big Bang.

These three orbiting powerhouses will join forces — along with the European Space Agency's Euclid spacecraft and the National Science Foundation's Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile — to reveal some of the universe's biggest secrets.

Inside the countless galaxies awaiting discovery are stars with planets. Once these new worlds are spotted by Roman, the more powerful and sensitive Webb will take aim to fill in the blanks.

Authorities say the Roman Space Telescope will send back 1.4 terabytes of data daily to scientists, the highest rate to date.

Who Is Nancy Grace Roman

The telescope was named after Nancy Grace Roman, who served as NASA's first chief astronomer and later became known as "mother of the Hubble Space Telescope."

The naming marks the first time the space agency has named a telescope after a woman.

Retired NASA scientist Ed Weiler said the honor is long overdue. He coined the phrase "Mother of Hubble" for Roman, who hired him in 1978.

Observatories above Earth's obscuring atmosphere can see farther and better, she insisted after joining the brand new NASA in 1959. She died in 2018 at age 93.

"This is very, very fitting. I think Nancy would be very proud" that the namesake telescope will tackle some of the biggest, lingering questions about the universe such as dark energy, Weiler said.

The telescope was built from the Roman Space Telescope Project Office, which is based at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. It's managed in partnership with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.