The hours are counting down to the launch of NASA's newest flagship orbital observatory. The spacecraft recently got its last glimpse of terrestrial light before being encapsulated in its rocket's protective payload fairing last week and is imminently bound for liftoff.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is NASA's next-generation research satellite, and it's currently slated to launch on Sunday (Aug. 30). Roman will lift off atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at 7:27 a.m. EDT (1127 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The scope will then head to sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 (L2), an orbital sweet spot about 930,000 miles (1.5 million km) away that will park the spacecraft on the side of Earth opposite the sun.
