All articles tagged with #wfirst
President Trump interrupt ed a NASA post-launch briefing to congratulate the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team on its successful launch, despite previously proposing to cancel the mission; the article notes past funding battles, congressional funding for NASA’s science programs, and reactions from mission leadership and reporters.
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is built largely from unused optics donated by the National Reconnaissance Office from the failed Future Imagery Architecture program; NASA repurposed two donated space telescopes, replaced electronics, and integrated them into a next‑gen observatory set to launch Aug. 30 on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, pursuing dark energy studies and exoplanet science. The reuse is pitched as cost-saving, but experts disagree on how much money was saved, especially in light of JWST-style budget pressures.
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is finishing final tests at Goddard and is set to ship to Kennedy Space Center for a Falcon Heavy launch as early as this fall; designed for a wide-field infrared view, it will conduct three core surveys and complement JWST by mapping large sky areas, with robotic refueling planned for a 5–10 year mission and operations run from Goddard.