NASA's next telescope (NGRST)

The night sky has been of interest for as long as humans have existed, constellations being named and worshiped, and even used for navigation and time keeping. In 1608 the first telescope was constructed, this initial new innovation has carried through to today’s society, and NASA has embraced the use of telescopes to learn about our universe.

After 33 years of unbelievable imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope, and 2 years from the newly launched mission, of the James Webb Space Telescope. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, shortened as Roman or the Roman Space Telescope is a NASA infrared space telescope currently in development and scheduled to launch by May 2027.

The Roman Space Telescope is based on an existing 7.9 ft wide field of view primary mirror and will carry two scientific instruments. The Wide-Field Instrument is a 300.8-megapixel multi-band visible and near-infrared camera, providing a sharpness of images comparable to that achieved by the Hubble Space Telescope over a 0.28 square degree field of view, 100 times larger than imaging cameras on the Hubble. The Coronagraphic Instrument is a high-contrast, small field of view camera and spectrometer covering visible and near-infrared wavelengths using novel starlight-suppression technology.

The science objectives of Roman aim to address cutting-edge questions in cosmology and exoplanet research, including:

Answering basic questions about dark energy, complementary to the European Space Agency (ESA) Euclid mission, and including: Is cosmic acceleration caused by a new energy component or by the breakdown of general relativity on cosmological scales? If the cause is a new energy component, is its energy density constant in space and time, or has it evolved over the history of the universe? Roman will use three independent techniques to probe dark energy: baryon acoustic oscillations, observations of distant supernovae, weak gravitational lensing.

Completing a census of exoplanets to help answer new questions about the potential for life in the universe: How common are solar systems like our own? What kinds of planets exist in the cold, outer regions of planetary systems? – What determines the habitability of Earth-like worlds? This census makes use of a technique that can find exoplanets down to a mass only a few times that of the Moon: gravitational microlensing. The census would also include a sample of free-floating planets with masses likely down to the mass of Mars.

Providing a coronagraph for exoplanet direct imaging that will provide the first direct images and spectra of planets around our nearest neighbours similar to our own giant planets.

As of July 2022, Roman is scheduled to be launched on a Falcon Heavy launch vehicle under a contract specifying readiness by October 2026 in support of a NASA launch commitment of May 2027.