Donald Trump · US Congress · MIT Technology Review
At the end of August, NASA is set to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from Kennedy Space Center
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But Roman could also serve another purpose: defending Earth from killer asteroids.
Key facts
- Astronomers estimate that there are also 230,000 or so 165-foot-long asteroids orbiting close to Earth, and fewer than 10% have been located
- Roman, named after NASA’s first chief astronomer, is equipped with a super-wide-angle, 300-megapixel infrared camera, allowing it to see a large patch of space at any one time—roughly 100 times
- That’s why NASA is launching the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor space telescope in 2027
- NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, and its partners across the world, are chiefly worried about asteroids 460 feet long and larger
Summary
At the end of August, NASA is set to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Roman, named after NASA’s first chief astronomer, is equipped with a super-wide-angle, 300-megapixel infrared camera, allowing it to see a large patch of space at any one time—roughly 100 times larger than is possible with the Hubble Space Telescope. While doing so, it’ll be looking “through” their solar system, and this is what makes it uniquely well placed to spot asteroids. Roman was not built for this purpose, but last summer, it was ( once again ) threatened with significant funding cuts by the Trump administration. Holler and his colleagues’ proposal, which will be presented at the Europlanet Science Congress at The Hague, reveals that Roman’s epic field of view and infrared vision allow it to spot small asteroids up to 60 feet long.