All articles tagged with #space telescope
NASA has selected the Probe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics (PRIMA) as the first mission in its new 'Probe Explorer' class, targeting a 2033 launch. The $1.2 billion observatory will use a modified spare cryocooler from the James Webb Space Telescope to observe the universe in far-infrared light, bridging the gap between existing infrared telescopes and radio observatories.
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will launch to a point about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth and use a 300-megapixel camera to survey large swaths of the sky in near-infrared. Built around a donated 2-meter mirror from a former spy-satellite program, it will deliver around 20 petabytes of data over its first five years, producing some of the largest panoramic space images ever and surveying 50 times more sky than Hubble did in 30 years. It also carries a coronagraph to image exoplanets and will work alongside ground-based Rubin Observatory surveys, helping advance discoveries of distant galaxies, exoplanets, and dark matter while informing future Habitable Worlds Observatory plans.
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched on Aug 30 and is en route to a Sun–Earth Lagrange point, where its coronagraph will directly image exoplanets and its spectroscopy mode will probe atmospheres, while broader sky surveys aim to shed light on dark energy and the fate of the universe, in coordination with Webb, Euclid, Rubin, and Hubble.
NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has resumed two of its three science instruments (XRT and UVOT) after a private rescue mission aimed at boosting its orbit failed; the Burst Alert Telescope remains offline. NASA abandoned the orbital-boost plan following attitude-control issues with LINK, and Swift now relies on low-drag operations. With no propulsion to counter atmospheric drag, its orbit is decaying and is expected to reach a critical altitude in 1–2 months, likely resulting in reentry and burn-up later this year, though the telescope will continue to observe the cosmos until then.
NASA launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, a powerful next‑gen observatory with a field of view about 100 times larger than Hubble and JWST. After a ~100‑day journey to a point roughly one million miles from Earth, it will survey for thousands of exoplanets, map dark matter and dark energy, and study black holes, aiming to revolutionize our understanding of the Universe. The five‑year primary mission could extend to 10 years, with scientists anticipating enormous cosmic maps and new insights into whether we are alone in the cosmos.
NASA is launching the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Aug 30, 2026, from Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy. The 300-megapixel infrared observatory has a field of view at least 100 times larger than Hubble and will survey about 2 billion galaxies to probe dark energy and dark matter while hunting around 100,000 exoplanets (including rogue planets) using a coronagraph to block starlight. It will operate at the Sun–Earth L2 point, stream more than a terabyte of data daily, and cost about $4.3 billion for a five-year mission, continuing NASA’s legacy of space-based astronomy named after its pioneering leader Nancy Grace Roman.
Fox Business host Ashley Webster misidentified NASA's upcoming telescope as being named after Nancy Grace, but the mission honors Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first chief astronomer and 'mother' of the Hubble Space Telescope. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, completed in 2025 and set to launch Aug 30, will survey about 1 billion galaxies and help uncover roughly 200,000 exoplanets, with an observation range at least 100 times larger than Hubble's; the name survived funding cuts during the Trump era after Congressional intervention.
A University of Michigan team designed memory-centric SRAM architectures for future space telescopes, cutting computing power from about 3,000 watts to 51 watts (roughly 59× less) and reducing spacecraft mass from about 2,425 pounds to 425 pounds by co-locating memory and processing to minimize data movement; the design could lower mission costs (about $430 million savings over 25 years) and is moving from simulation to lab testing with chiplet fabrication planned next.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope uses its larger 6.5-meter mirror and infrared vision to peer back to the universe’s earliest epochs, capturing galaxies formed within a few hundred million years after the Big Bang and pushing the record beyond Hubble’s reach (e.g., MoM-z14 at ~13.5 billion years ago). Webb reveals a cosmic dawn that is brighter and more chemically evolved than pre‑Webb models predicted, with some galaxies seen just 50–300 million years after the Big Bang—reminding us that each image is both a snapshot of the present instrument and a window into a long-ago cosmos that has since evolved.
After more than a decade of archival data, astronomers directly imaged Beta Pictoris d, a roughly 2.4 Jupiter-mass gas giant about 63 light-years away, making it the faintest exoplanet ever seen directly from Earth and helping explain the star system’s debris disk; the find places Beta Pictoris among the few multi-planet systems detectable via direct imaging and may be followed up by the ELT.
In December 1995, the Hubble Space Telescope spent ten days staring at a tiny, seemingly empty patch near the Big Dipper to avoid foreground clutter. The resulting Hubble Deep Field exposed about 3,000 galaxies in that minute patch, turning emptiness into a crowded view of the cosmos and shaping our understanding of galaxy formation and the scale of the universe.
NASA is inviting digital creators to apply for a two‑day NASA Social at Kennedy Space Center to cover the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launch on Aug. 30, 2026, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy. Up to 50 attendees will gain media‑style access; registration runs June 15–28 with selections announced in July. Applicants must be active social media content creators; attendees cover their own travel and accommodations and must meet REAL ID or passport entry requirements. If not selected, you can follow online or watch the livestream; NASA will update registrants if the launch date changes.
A Vantor WorldView Legion satellite photographed the Hubble Space Telescope from about 61.8 km away on April 23, 2026, capturing a rare close-up view that shows Hubble's cylindrical body, thermal shielding, solar arrays, and the open front aperture, as the telescope marks its 36th birthday and continues to inspire in an era of newer observatories like the Roman Space Telescope.
NASA has completed construction of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, finishing ahead of schedule and under budget, with a September launch aboard SpaceX Falcon Heavy to the L2 point. The telescope features a 7.9-foot primary mirror, a 300-megapixel Wide Field Instrument, and a Roman Coronagraph for exoplanet imaging; it will survey the sky 1,000x faster, observe 200x more of the sky per image, and process data 2,000x faster than Hubble, potentially discovering billions of galaxies and tens of billions of stars while expanding infrared astronomy and exoplanet discovery.
NASA aims to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in September 2026 aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, a wide-field observatory with a 300.8‑megapixel camera and a coronagraph to spot exoplanets and study dark energy; it will survey the sky about 100x larger than Hubble, operate from roughly 1 million miles from Earth, and work in concert with JWST and Chandra, with a latest possible launch date of May 2027.