{"id":598144,"date":"2026-08-28T01:24:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T01:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/598144\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T01:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T01:24:14","slug":"nasas-nancy-grace-roman-telescope-is-about-to-start-its-cosmic-survey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/598144\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA&#8217;s Nancy Grace Roman Telescope Is About to Start Its Cosmic Survey"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"576\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/nancy-grace-roman-space-telescope-2_bec840.jpg\" alt=\"The boxy structure of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope stands in a high-ceiling bay in a NASA facility.\" class=\"wp-image-4533580\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is ready for its trip to Florida so that it can get launched into space.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>NASA<\/p>\n<p>After nearly a decade in development, NASA\u2019s next big telescope is almost ready to travel into space. The agency has set Sunday as the launch date for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. This places the project approximately eight months ahead of its original schedule and, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XX4f6dOoi08\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">according to NASA leadership<\/a>, significantly under budget.<\/p>\n<p>NASA is getting some assistance from SpaceX for this launch. The telescope is being taken into space by a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, where it\u2019ll separate and head to its final location while the SpaceX rocket returns to Earth.<\/p>\n<p>With the launch just a few days away, the telescope should be pretty close to ready to go. That includes detailed inspections to verify it sustained no damage during transit. Engineers also loaded 290 gallons of hydrazine to fuel the telescope and conducted several dress rehearsals in preparation for the launch.<\/p>\n<p>The destination for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point, located about 1 million miles from Earth on the far side of the sun. The region is a gravitational sweet spot that allows spacecraft to maintain a relatively stable position while orbiting the sun alongside Earth.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"576\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/nancy-grace-roman-space-telesccope_eb2afa.jpg\" alt=\"Infographic listing stats of expected sightings for the Nancy Grace Roman telescope\" class=\"wp-image-4533581\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>With its wider field of view, the Roman telescope promises to see quite a lot of the universe.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>NASA<\/p>\n<p>How to watch the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope launch<\/p>\n<p>The launch is set to take off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday at 7:26 a.m. ET\/4:26 a.m. PT. NASA is livestreaming the event, with coverage beginning at 6:20 a.m. ET, and it\u2019ll include a post-launch news conference starting at 9:30 a.m. ET with a media Q&amp;A session.<\/p>\n<p>NASA is streaming it across all its social platforms, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NASA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/NASA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Instagram<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitch.tv\/nasa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Twitch<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9wq3VHsL_bE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">YouTube<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NASA\" rel=\"nofollow\">X<\/a>. The agency says the launch is also watchable on <a href=\"https:\/\/plus.nasa.gov\/scheduled-video\/nancy-grace-roman-space-telescope-launch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">NASA Plus<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.primevideo.com\/detail\/0SZZ81RC1Y710TJOQ0FIFPUP5T\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Amazon Prime<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoveryplus.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Discovery Plus<\/a>. Netflix isn\u2019t mentioned on NASA\u2019s list, but it won\u2019t hurt to check the day of the launch to see if it\u2019s streaming there as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s quite an early launch for a Sunday, so if you\u2019re a late sleeper or a churchgoer, you may have to wait until later to watch it back.<\/p>\n<p>What is the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope looking for?<\/p>\n<p>The telescope is named after astronomer <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/people\/nancy-roman\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Nancy Grace Roman<\/a>, NASA\u2019s first female executive and an instrumental voice in the planning and construction of the <a data-link-uuid=\"cda05c7c-3896-4167-a15e-69017769ee93\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/science\/space\/nasa-hubble-telescope-spots-spectacular-supernova-from-11-billion-years-ago\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hubble Space Telescope<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The two telescopes share more than just a connection to Roman. Both use 2.4-meter mirrors and can produce images with similar sharpness. But Roman is designed to see much more of the sky at once, capturing images at least 100 times larger than Hubble\u2019s. The observatories also specialize in different wavelengths of light: Hubble observes ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared light, while Roman focuses on visible and infrared wavelengths.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"576\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/hubble-and-roman-telescope-comparison_3618a3.jpg\" alt=\"Many stars in the blackness of space, with grids superimposed\" class=\"wp-image-4533582\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>The Roman Telescope can see as much of space in just two images as the Hubble does in over 400.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>NASA<\/p>\n<p>NASA envisions Roman and Hubble working hand in hand. Roman will scan enormous swaths of the sky, uncovering objects and phenomena that can later be examined in greater detail by Hubble. By combining Roman\u2019s panoramic surveys with Hubble\u2019s more focused observations, astronomers hope to build a richer picture of the cosmos.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>During its mission, Roman is expected to observe more than 100 billion stars and billions of galaxies, detect tens of thousands of supernovae and transmit nearly 1.4 terabytes of scientific data to Earth every day.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img alt=\"Joe Hindy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/f6daf44a-3954-4d2e-be68-837ce2953e1f.jpg\"  class=\"avatar avatar-64 photo\" height=\"64\" width=\"64\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJoe is a freelance journalist. It all started with a long-running affection for building his own PCs, which he did for the first time as a teenager. It evolved into a lifelong enjoyment of putting words on the internet about the subject. He&#8217;s written for CNET, PCMag, Mashable and SlashGear as a freelance writer, and worked as a Senior Editor at Android Authority for 10 years. When he&#8217;s not writing about tech and science, he&#8217;s learning the ins and outs of DIY home repair, gaming, playing his bass guitars and posting help on PC building and gaming subreddits. He is a staunch believer that orange juice should have pulp.<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/profiles\/joehindy\/\" rel=\"author nofollow noopener\" class=\"articleAuthorBioFooter_link\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSee full bio\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is ready for its trip to Florida so that it can get&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[85,46,141],"class_list":["post-598144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}