NASA clears its Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope for a Sunday launch on a Falcon Heavy
The last review before the countdown is done, and the next great survey telescope has a Sunday morning window.
NASA and SpaceX completed the Launch Readiness Review on Friday at Kennedy Space Center and declared the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope go for launch. Liftoff is set for Sunday, August 30, at 7:26 a.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39A aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket, with forecasters giving a 60 percent chance of favorable weather. NASA says the review confirmed that the rocket, the observatory, the weather, and the supporting teams are all ready. Once on station, Roman is built to run deep, sweeping surveys of dark energy and dark matter, to find and characterize exoplanets, to map billions of galaxies, and to study black holes.
Scripture for Reflection
“Lift up your eyes on high: Who created all these? He leads forth the starry host by number; He calls each one by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”
We can lift our eyes tomorrow and let a wider view of the sky leave us smaller and more grateful.