Roman Space Telescope reaches SpaceX hangar for launch

NASA's newest space telescope just took its last ride on Earth. On Tuesday, technicians moved the Roman Space Telescope, sealed inside its rocket fairing, to SpaceX's hangar at Kennedy Space Center. Crews are now mating it to a Falcon Heavy rocket. Launch is targeted for Sunday, Aug. 30, at 7:26 a.m. ET. It's the last major step before Roman leaves the ground for good.

Roman is built to do two very different jobs at once. It will hunt for dark energy, the unexplained force pulling the universe apart faster over time. It does that by mapping billions of galaxies. It will also search for planets outside our solar system. Its camera captures far more sky in a single shot than the Hubble Space Telescope. That wide view is the whole point. Hubble and Webb stare at one tiny patch of sky at a time. Roman scans huge swaths of it at once.

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Will the Aug. 30 date hold? Rocket launches slip constantly, for weather, technical checks, or last-minute fixes. If Sunday's window holds, Roman starts its science mission almost immediately after reaching orbit.