The “Hubble Space Telescope“, often referred as Hubble or HST, was first launched into earth’s lower orbit in the early 1990s which still remains operational. It was first planned to be launched in early 1986, but unfortunately, it delayed since the launching shuttle exploded a minute after launching, killing all seven astronauts on board. NASA is working on its next-generation Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIST) or simply “Roman Space Telescope” which is currently under development, expected to be launched in the mid-2020s. In honour of “Mother of Hubble space telescope: Nancy Grace Roman, NASA announced the name of their upcoming Hubble as “Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope” or in short “Roman Space Telescope”. Nancy Grace Roman was an American astronaut whose contributions to stellar classification and motions helped her to become the first female executive at NASA. She served as Nasa’s first chief of Astronomy throughout the 1960s and 1970s. For her foundational role in planning Hubble space telescope, she is known as the “Mother of Hubble”.
Nancy was born on May 16, 1925, in Nashville, Tennessee. By her seventh standard, she realised her interest in Astronomy. During that time she formed an astronomy club with her classmates in Nevada. Despite of being discouraged girls majoring Physics, her desire to achieve goals didn’t stop her to earn bachelor’s degree in Astronomy from Swarthmore in 1946 and a doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1949. She stayed at Chicago for a long time and made discoveries about the structures of stars that had ramifications for the advancement of our Milky Way galaxy. She knew her chances of earning a tenure in universities is less as she is a girl. So, she took a position in the US Naval Research Laboratory.
Just six months after NASA has been established, Nancy Roman came there taking a position of chief of astronomy and relativity in 1959. Even if it was a difficult time for a woman who wants advancements in scientific researches, Nancy Roman was able to go forward with her challenging duties. With her leadership, NASA launched four astronomical observatories by 1972, in which two of those were successful. Her team was able to represent the value of space-based astrophysics which lead to the idea of Hubble. She developed a committee of astronomers and engineers to conceive the need for a space-based research program. Her will in realising the Hubble space telescope made her the “Mother of Hubble”. She really deserves it. Nancy Grace Roman passed away on 25th December 2018.
The Roman space telescope would be launched by the mid-2020s. It is a space-based observatory that can be used to solve the questions in dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics. It has a primary mirror of 2.4 meters, same as the Hubble Space Telescope. The roman space telescope consists of two instruments. A wide-field instrument which has a vision 100 times greater than the Hubble infrared instrument which will help in observing the faraway sky in less time and technology demonstration coronagraph instrument, which can be used to capture deep contrasted images and spectroscopic images of nearby exoplanets. By February 2020, the roman space telescope officially had a green light in developing hardware and testing them. By finalising the works the team will ensure that the final model would be able to withstand in extreme conditions during launching and in space.
The launching of hubbles space telecope during 1990s was significantly revolutionary. It was the best scientific telescope of all the time. Hope Romen Space telescope would achieve greater milestones.
-Aravind Raju
Reference: NASA
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