On the eve of a weekend launch, a telescope carries a quiet irony into the sky: it was first shaped to watch the Earth in secret, a reconnaissance satellite the National Reconnaissance Office never sent up. Roughly fifteen years ago that unflown machine passed to NASA, which reworked it for a different kind of looking, toward the dying stars, distant galaxies and worlds beyond our solar system. Its deepest purpose reaches past any single discovery, toward dark energy, the unseen force stretching the cosmos and, with it, the question of how the universe may end.
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Telescope Readies Launch, Built From a Shelved Spy Satellite
A spy satellite that never flew is about to study the fate of the universe
Mark
So the headline fact is that this telescope was a spy satellite first?
Mimi
Yes. It was built for the National Reconnaissance Office and never launched. About 15 years ago the NRO gave it to NASA.
Mark
And it just got pointed at space instead of Earth?
Mimi
Not quite that simply. NPR says it went through major modifications before becoming a science mission.
Luke
Worth saying that the report doesn't tell us what those modifications were. We know they were major, but not what changed or how long it took.
Mark
What is the telescope supposed to look at?
Mimi
New supernovas, distant galaxies, and exoplanets, over a five-year mission.
Mark
And why does dark energy matter so much here?
Mimi
It's the mysterious force the mission should help scientists understand, and NPR says that bears on the fate of the universe.
Luke
I'd keep that as a hope, not a result. The telescope hasn't launched yet, so nothing has been learned. Also, the source says launch is this weekend but gives no exact date or rocket.
El Pulso
- A spy satellite that never flew is about to be launched on a new mission, and the transformation itself carries real tension.
- NASA must take hardware built for reconnaissance and reshape it into an instrument for astronomy before it can fly.
- The launch is set for this weekend, with the telescope poised to begin a five-year run of observation.
- Early dark energy data is the next milestone, and it may begin to reveal the long-term fate of the universe.
On the eve of a weekend launch, a telescope carries a quiet irony into the sky: it was first shaped to watch the Earth in secret, a reconnaissance satellite the National Reconnaissance Office never sent up. Roughly fifteen years ago that unflown machine passed to NASA, which reworked it for a different kind of looking, toward the dying stars, distant galaxies and worlds beyond our solar system. Its deepest purpose reaches past any single discovery, toward dark energy, the unseen force stretching the cosmos and, with it, the question of how the universe may end.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is set to launch this weekend, and the machine bound for orbit began its life as something else entirely: a spy satellite built for the National Reconnaissance Office, the agency that runs the country's intelligence satellites.
That satellite was never launched. About fifteen years ago the NRO handed it to NASA, and the hardware made for reconnaissance was not simply aimed at the stars. It underwent major modifications before it could work as an observatory.
Once in space, the telescope begins a five-year mission aimed at new supernovas, distant galaxies and exoplanets orbiting stars beyond our own. Its central payoff is expected to be a clearer picture of dark energy, the mysterious force linked to the universe's expansion, and what researchers learn there may say something about the universe's ultimate fate.
The source does not name the launch date, rocket, or launch site, nor detail the modifications. What it does establish is the arc: a shelved spy satellite, now on the verge of science.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is scheduled to launch this weekend, and the machine heading to space began its life as something else entirely: a spy satellite built for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. agency that operates the country's intelligence-gathering satellites.
That satellite was never launched. About 15 years ago, the NRO handed it over to NASA. The hardware that had been made for reconnaissance was not simply pointed at the sky. It went through what NPR describes as major modifications before it could serve as an astronomical observatory.
Once in orbit, the telescope is set to begin a five-year mission. Its targets include new supernovas, the explosions of dying stars, along with distant galaxies and planets orbiting stars outside our solar system, known as exoplanets.
The mission's central scientific payoff is expected to be a better understanding of dark energy, the mysterious force that scientists associate with the universe's expansion. According to NPR's reporting, what researchers learn about it should tell us about the fate of the universe. That is the largest stake attached to a launch that, on its surface, is about a single telescope.
The story comes from NPR's Short Wave podcast. The episode was produced by Berly McCoy and edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts, and Jimmy Keeley was the audio engineer. The episode points listeners to a related report by Regina on the mysterious red dots spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope, and invites questions about space news at shortwave@npr.org.
The source gives a launch window of this weekend but does not name the launch date, the rocket, or the site, and it does not detail what the modifications involved. What it does establish is the arc: a shelved spy satellite, transferred roughly 15 years ago, now on the verge of a five-year science mission.
What to watch is the launch itself this weekend, and then the early data on dark energy, which bears on how the universe may ultimately end.
Citas Notables
The telescope should help scientists better understand dark energy, which will tell us about the fate of the universe.— NPR Short Wave
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