Humanity's 'eye in the sky' got a boost in December 2021 when James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) took to skies. Before that the trusty old Hubble Space Telescope was gazing at the distant corners of the universe for decades. With JWST's cutting edge tech at our disposal, anyone would be forgiven for thinking that launch of another space telescope would be decades away. But National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is gearing up to send another space telescope in space.
Enter Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (NGRST).
Why is this telescope significant and different?
Hubble Space Telescope can make observation in visible spectrum of light. JWST can make observations in Infrared spectrum of light. NGRST's observations are aimed at making observations to further study dark matter, dark energy and exoplanets.
Dark matter and dark energy are still somewhat of an enigma to scientists. Dark matter cannot be felt or seen. It is therefore hard to make observations about it and dark energy.
NGRST will delve deeper in this field of study and will help scientists find out how distribution of dark energy and visible matter has been throughout the history of the universe.
In addition to this, the telescope will also help in discovery of new exoplanets in our Milky way Galaxy. In a span of just a few decades, humanity has come from knowing just a few exoplanets to knowing a large number of them. The list will grow as NGRST gets to work.
It is estimated that NASA will launch NGRST by 2027.
The primary mission time of NGRST is five years. This can be extended to another five years if NASA decides so.
