NASA’s newest space telescope launches to spot ‘the weird, the rare and the unusual’ | CNN

A massive observatory that scientists have called a “discovery machine” has launched toward the cosmos, beginning a journey that could mark a significant shift in our understanding of the universe. Designed to seek out otherwise invisible and faint space objects, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at 7:26 a.m. ET Sunday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The observatory reached orbit about 10 minutes later. Over the next five years, the bus-size telescope’s observations could reveal answers to enduring mysteries such as dark energy, which fuels the inexplicable accelerating expansion of the universe, and dark matter, which provides the cosmos with structure but remains unseen. It could allow astronomers to spot previously unseen galaxies and exoplanets, worlds around stars beyond our solar system, as well rogue planets that don’t orbit stars at all. Dr. Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, reflected on the bittersweet feeling of watching the telescope launch Sunday morning. “You see it growing up, and then it literally feels like it’s part of your team,” Fox said at a pos