AssetID: 56029710
Headline: UNCAPTIONED: NASA Doubles Potential Lifespan of New Roman Space Telescope
Caption: NASA Doubles Potential Lifespan of New Roman Space Telescope. NASA says its newly launched Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could remain operational for at least 22 years, more than twice the 10-year mission life originally planned. The telescope was designed for a five-year primary mission followed by a possible five-year extension, with fuel representing its main consumable resource. The potential extension is largely due to the precision of Roman's first mid-course correction, which used less than 10% of the fuel NASA had budgeted for the manoeuvre. NASA also said the spacecraft was lighter than the maximum mass used for its original planning, allowing engineers to fill its propulsion tanks to capacity before launch. Roman was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Cape Canaveral on August 30 and is now travelling towards the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, about 1.6 million kilometres from Earth. NASA expects the telescope to reach its destination in early December, after another trajectory correction and orbital insertion. Once operational, Roman will study dark energy and dark matter, investigate gravity on large scales and search for planets beyond our solar system. It is designed to complement missions such as Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope, potentially giving scientists more than two decades to explore the universe with its infrared capabilities. Instructions: THIS VIDEO MUST NOT BE EDITED FOR LENGTH TO COMBINE WITH OTHER CONTENT
Keywords: Science & Technology,NASA,Roman Space Telescope,Hubble,James Webb,lifespan,double,fuel,weight,trajectory,course,scientists,dark matter,dark energy,planets,Solar System
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