Archive · 6 Aug 2026
NASA's Roman Telescope Carries 1.35 Million Names to Deep Space
NASA is getting ready to send a brand-new space telescope far away from Earth.
Before it launches, NASA put a tiny computer card holding more than one million people's names onto the telescope.
People from all over the world sent in their names to be part of this big adventure.
Even astronauts who will fly to the Moon have their names on the card.
The telescope is named after Dr Nancy Grace Roman, a scientist known as the 'mother' of the Hubble Space Telescope.
It will travel to a special spot in space called Lagrange Point 2, which is about one million miles from Earth.
From there, it will take pictures of stars, planets, and galaxies.
Its camera can see 100 times more of the sky than the Hubble telescope.
The Roman telescope will launch on August 30, 2026, on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
When it flies, more than a million names will be flying along with it.
NASA installed a commemorative plaque with an SD card containing 1,350,144 names onto the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
The names were submitted by space enthusiasts worldwide, including astronauts from the Artemis II and Artemis III Moon missions.
The plaque honors Dr Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first chief astronomer, known as the 'mother' of the Hubble Space Telescope.
The observatory will orbit Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2, about one million miles from Earth, where the James Webb Space Telescope also operates.
Roman is scheduled to launch August 30, 2026, at 07:26 am EDT on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center.
- Who
- NASA and technicians at the agency's Kennedy Space Center, who installed the plaque; the telescope honors Dr Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first chief astronomer.
- What
- Installation of a commemorative plaque carrying 1,350,144 names aboard the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope ahead of its launch.
- When
- The plaque was installed ahead of the telescope's scheduled launch on August 30, 2026, at 07:26 am EDT.
- Where
- NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida; the telescope will travel to Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2, about one million miles from Earth.
- Why
- To continue NASA's tradition of leaving humanity's mark on the cosmos and to honor Dr Nancy Grace Roman's legacy.
- Telescope
- Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
- Names carried
- 1,350,144
- Launch date
- August 30, 2026, at 07:26 am EDT
- Launch vehicle
- SpaceX Falcon Heavy
- Launch site
- Launch Complex 39A, NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida
- Destination
- Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2, about one million miles from Earth
- Honored scientist
- Dr Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first chief astronomer
- Project management
- NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland