NASA set to launch Roman telescope to map the universe

NASA is preparing to launch its new flagship space telescope on Sunday, embarking on a multi-year mission to create an unprecedented map of the cosmos and shed light on some of the biggest mysteries in physics. Designed to take a panoramic view of the vast reaches of space, the Roman Space Telescope "will help unlock the secrets of the universe," US President Donald Trump said Friday during a ceremony at NASA headquarters in Houston, Texas. Standing over 12 meters (39 feet) tall, the state-of-the-art observatory is scheduled to launch from Florida at 7:26 am (1126 GMT) aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Developed over more than a decade at a cost topping $4 billion, the telescope is named after pioneering US astronomer Nancy Grace Roman, who became known as the "Mother of Hubble," another of NASA's flagship telescopes. Read moreExclusive - French astronaut describes climate change as seen from space While Hubble revealed that the universe is expanding faster than previously thought, Roman will seek to answer some of the other unsolved mysteries, including those of dark matter and dark energy. "Roman will give the Earth a new atlas of the universe," NASA administrator Jared Isaacm...