SpaceX rolled the Falcon Heavy carrying NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center and raised it vertical. NASA says it is targeting Sunday, 30 August for launch. Under NASA's plan, Roman is to travel toward the Sun-Earth L2 point after liftoff. The telescope remained on the pad and had not launched at the time of reporting.
SpaceX rolled the Falcon Heavy carrying NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center on Saturday. The rocket was then raised vertical on the pad. Falcon Heavy's 27 Merlin engines are divided between a centre core and two side boosters. Roman remained atop that rocket on the pad and had not launched at the time of reporting.[1], [2]
NASA said it and SpaceX were targeting Sunday, 30 August for launch, while Space.com described the target as Sunday morning. The agency announced two briefings for the same day, one on the mission's science programme and another on prelaunch preparations. These remained NASA's prelaunch plans: rollout to the pad did not mean liftoff had occurred. At the time of reporting, the telescope stood vertical at pad 39A awaiting the launch opportunity announced by NASA.[1], [2]
NASA describes Roman as an observatory roughly the size and weight of a school bus. Under the agency's stated plan, the telescope is to travel after liftoff toward the Sun-Earth L2 point, about 1.6 million kilometres from Earth. NASA also says the mission is intended to probe dark energy and make a statistical census of planetary systems. Before that planned journey, Roman stands vertical at pad 39A and NASA names Sunday as its launch target.[1], [2]
