{"id":1897558,"date":"2026-04-22T20:41:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T17:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1897558"},"modified":"2026-04-22T20:41:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T17:41:40","slug":"nasa-targets-a-september-launch-for-its-next-big-space-telescope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1897558","title":{"rendered":"NASA targets a September launch for its next big space telescope"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/iDqgnpqu197js7lFOWjm9g&#8211;\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD03ODM-\/https:\/\/d29szjachogqwa.cloudfront.net\/images\/2026-04\/62b8fa72-db25-4d73-a8a8-7d3d35f58e43&#8243;]<\/p>\n<article id=\"article-85673b85-c940-480e-b41e-922d2e5da6ec\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"mx-auto md:px-10 md:max-w-[1220px]\">\n<nav class=\"prestige-breadcrumb relative mx-4 md:mx-0\" aria-label=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<ol class=\"no-scrollbar overflow-scroll whitespace-nowrap text-battleship\">\n<li class=\"inline\">\n<li class=\"inline-block cursor-default last:pr-10 md:last:pr-20 font-bold\">Science<\/li>\n<li class=\"inline-block cursor-default last:pr-10 md:last:pr-20 ml-2 before:mb-0.5 before:mr-3 before:inline-block before:size-2 before:rotate-45 before:border-r-2 before:border-t-2 before:border-battleship\">Space<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/nav>\n<header class=\"mb-4 px-4 md:mb-6 md:px-0\">\n<h1 class=\"layout-h1 my-2 font-bold leading-tight\">NASA targets a September launch for its next big space telescope<\/h1>\n<h2 class=\"my-2 text-[18px] font-light leading-5 md:max-w-[660px] md:text-[20px]\/[28px]\">Roman has a field of view 100 times larger than Hubble&#8217;s.<\/h2>\n<div class=\"flex-col items-start lg:flex lg:flex-row lg:items-center lg:justify-between mt-6\">\n<div class=\"relative md:mr-[10px]\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n<div class=\"flex mr-2\">\n<div class=\"shrink-0 cursor-pointer inline-block size-[42px] lg:size-[48px]\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt role=\"img\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full rounded-full object-cover object-center shadow-[0_0_0_2px_#ffffff]\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/HVLHsm6NoIRupYAscgAX1g--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTgwO2g9ODA-\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2025-07\/cd49bb30-6802-11f0-9fbf-d9d20eb98294\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-block\">\n<div class=\"w-max text-sm\/5 font-semibold lg:!flex flex items-center\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col\">\n<div class=\"flex w-max items-center\">Will Shanklin<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"font-normal sm:before:inline-block\">Contributing Reporter<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"lg:hidden\">\n<div class=\"text-xs text-dolphin dark:text-shark md:text-sm\/5 pt-4\">\n<div class=\"inline-block\"><time datetime=\"2026-04-22T20:41:40.000Z\">Wed, April 22, 2026 at 8:41 PM UTC<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ml-0 mt-4 flex items-center lg:ml-3 lg:mt-0\">\n<div class=\"ml-0 mr-2\">\n<div class=\"relative flex\">Add Engadget on Google<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden lg:block\">\n<div class=\"text-xs text-dolphin dark:text-shark md:text-sm\/5 pt-4\">\n<div class=\"inline-block\"><time datetime=\"2026-04-22T20:41:40.000Z\">Wed, April 22, 2026 at 8:41 PM UTC<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-1 gap-x-8 lg:gap-x-0 mx-auto md:px-10 md:max-w-[1220px] md:grid-cols-[[main-start]_1fr_[main-end_right-start]_min-content_[right-end]] lg:!gap-x-8\">\n<div class=\"md:col-main\" data-i13n-boundary=\"true\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-[[fullbleed-start_body-start]_minmax(auto,750px)_[body-end_fullbleed-end]]\">\n<figure class=\"relative col-body mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative overflow-hidden fig-image-round left-1\/2 w-screen -translate-x-1\/2 md:left-0 md:w-auto md:translate-x-0\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt class=\"object-cover object-center\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/GOdetmPuEGycPVK04wGnmw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04MTA-\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/uu\/api\/res\/1.2\/wr3xJZSIXkhkxcrlCWXp5A--~B\/aD0yMDM2O3c9MzEyMDthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--\/https:\/\/d29szjachogqwa.cloudfront.net\/images\/2026-04\/62b8fa72-db25-4d73-a8a8-7d3d35f58e43\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-[0.875rem]\/[1.25rem] figure-caption mt-1 line-clamp-2 mt-2.5 md:mt-2 pr-2.5\">\n<div><span>Baltimore Sun via Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-article-mobile md:grid-cols-article lg:max-w-[750px] drop-cap\" data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">NASA&#8217;s next eye into the cosmos is due to leave our planet later this year. The agency says it&#8217;s targeting an early September launch for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Roman (for short) has a field of view 100 times larger than Hubble&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">The September date is the earliest possible launch for Roman. NASA says it will go up (aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket) no later than May 2027.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, named after NASA&#8217;s first chief astronomer and &#8220;mother&#8221; of Hubble, was introduced in 2016. (Back then, it was known as the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope, or WFIRST.) The telescope&#8217;s mirror is roughly the same size as Hubble&#8217;s, but it can capture sections of the sky at least 100 times larger than its predecessor.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative col-body mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The Roman telescope, sitting inside a white NASA hangar\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" class=\"fig-image-round\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/TlSfrx25b3LGMnzmXER59A--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MA--\/https:\/\/d29szjachogqwa.cloudfront.net\/images\/user-uploaded\/roman_5128.jpg\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-[0.875rem]\/[1.25rem] figure-caption mt-1 line-clamp-2 mt-2.5 md:mt-2 pr-2.5\">\n<div><span>NASA<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">&#8220;Roman will work in tandem with NASA observatories such as the James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory, which are designed to zoom in on rare transient objects once they&#8217;ve been identified, but seldom if ever discover them,&#8221; Julie McEnery, Roman&#8217;s senior project scientist, said in 2023. &#8220;Roman&#8217;s much larger field of view will reveal many such objects that were previously unknown. And since we&#8217;ve never had an observatory like this scanning the cosmos before, we could even find entirely new classes of objects and events.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_mh9nam95feiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-body mb-4 hidden pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:block\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_16h9nam95feiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">After leaving our atmosphere, Roman will set course for a vantage point nearly 1 million miles from Earth. There, it will rely on a pair of instruments to study space. The first is a 300.8-megapixel camera that captures light from visible to near-infrared. There&#8217;s also a high-contrast coronagraph that will allow it to capture exoplanets that would otherwise be blocked by starlight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Roman\u2019s mission: &#8220;to settle essential questions in the areas of dark energy, exoplanets and astrophysics.&#8221; Despite decades of study, astronomers know surprisingly little about dark energy, which makes up about 68 percent of the universe\u2019s contents. And while scientific discoveries are cool and all, you\u2019ll be pleased to know that Roman is also sure to beam back more dazzling pictures of our cosmos.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"md:col-main grid grid-cols-article-mobile md:grid-cols-article lg:max-w-[750px]\">\n<div class=\"no-scrollbar col-body mx-4 mb-8 mt-2.5 overflow-x-scroll whitespace-nowrap md:mx-0 md:max-w-[750px] md:overflow-x-visible md:hidden\">\n<div class=\"mx-auto max-w-screen-sm\">\n<ul class=\"inline-flex text-xs md:text-sm\">\n<li class=\"mr-6\">About our ads<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-article-mobile md:grid-cols-article lg:max-w-[750px] drop-cap\" data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">NASA&#8217;s next eye into the cosmos is due to leave our planet later this year. The agency says it&#8217;s targeting an early September launch for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Roman (for short) has a field of view 100 times larger than Hubble&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">The September date is the earliest possible launch for Roman. NASA says it will go up (aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket) no later than May 2027.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, named after NASA&#8217;s first chief astronomer and &#8220;mother&#8221; of Hubble, was introduced in 2016. (Back then, it was known as the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope, or WFIRST.) The telescope&#8217;s mirror is roughly the same size as Hubble&#8217;s, but it can capture sections of the sky at least 100 times larger than its predecessor.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative col-body mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The Roman telescope, sitting inside a white NASA hangar\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" class=\"fig-image-round\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/TlSfrx25b3LGMnzmXER59A--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MA--\/https:\/\/d29szjachogqwa.cloudfront.net\/images\/user-uploaded\/roman_5128.jpg\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-[0.875rem]\/[1.25rem] figure-caption mt-1 line-clamp-2 mt-2.5 md:mt-2 pr-2.5\">\n<div><span>NASA<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">&#8220;Roman will work in tandem with NASA observatories such as the James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory, which are designed to zoom in on rare transient objects once they&#8217;ve been identified, but seldom if ever discover them,&#8221; Julie McEnery, Roman&#8217;s senior project scientist, said in 2023. &#8220;Roman&#8217;s much larger field of view will reveal many such objects that were previously unknown. And since we&#8217;ve never had an observatory like this scanning the cosmos before, we could even find entirely new classes of objects and events.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_mh9nam95feiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-body mb-4 hidden pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:block\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_16h9nam95feiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">After leaving our atmosphere, Roman will set course for a vantage point nearly 1 million miles from Earth. There, it will rely on a pair of instruments to study space. The first is a 300.8-megapixel camera that captures light from visible to near-infrared. There&#8217;s also a high-contrast coronagraph that will allow it to capture exoplanets that would otherwise be blocked by starlight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Roman\u2019s mission: &#8220;to settle essential questions in the areas of dark energy, exoplanets and astrophysics.&#8221; Despite decades of study, astronomers know surprisingly little about dark energy, which makes up about 68 percent of the universe\u2019s contents. And while scientific discoveries are cool and all, you\u2019ll be pleased to know that Roman is also sure to beam back more dazzling pictures of our cosmos.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/science\/space\/nasa-targets-a-september-launch-for-its-next-big-space-telescope-204140176.html&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/iDqgnpqu197js7lFOWjm9g&#8211;\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD03ODM-\/https:\/\/d29szjachogqwa.cloudfront.net\/images\/2026-04\/62b8fa72-db25-4d73-a8a8-7d3d35f58e43&#8243;] Science Space NASA targets a September launch for its next big space telescope Roman has a field of view 100 times larger than Hubble&#8217;s. Will Shanklin Contributing Reporter Wed, April 22, 2026 at 8:41 PM UTC Add Engadget on Google Wed, April 22, 2026 at 8:41 PM UTC Baltimore Sun via Getty [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,63],"class_list":["post-1897558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-engadget-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1897558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1897558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1897558\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1897558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1897558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1897558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}