September 8, 2026
On August 30th, NASA launched its newest instrumentation innovation, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope! Scientists around the world are exicted for what comes next and what kinds of questions we may be able to find answers to. Perhaps no one more excited than the department's own, Professor Jessica Lu, who has been involved closely with the project and is a spokesperson on Roman. Professor Lu works on improving high-precision astrometry (measuring the positions and movements of stars) and photometry (measuring starlight brightness) using the Roman Space Telescope.
You can read more about Roman on the NASA Website.
NASA also has a podcast on Roman, called the Roman Series and you hear (and read) about the launch on the NASA Website.