The next gen space telescope -- next to launch -- will be the Roman 'scope.
And she richly deserves the naming honor. We will have to wait a bit (perhaps into 2025, or so), but she will launch. Here's a bit from the NASA tribute to her, here on this clear Friday morning:
. . .Nancy Grace Roman. . . was the first Chief of Astronomy at NASA's Office of Space Science and the first woman to hold an executive position in the agency. In her role, she had oversight for the planning and development of programs including the Cosmic Background Explorer and the Hubble Space Telescope.
Dr. Roman received her doctorate in astronomy from the University of Chicago in 1949 and joined NASA in 1959. She finished her NASA career at Goddard Space Flight Center where she served as the manager of the Astronomical Data Center. After retiring from NASA in 1979, she continued working as a contractor at Goddard. Throughout her career, Dr. Roman has been a spokesperson and advocate of women in the sciences.
So influential was Dr. Roman that "next-generation observatory that will answer pressing cosmic questions" was renamed in her honor. . . .
We seek news of the stars this morning, as the news out of Ukraine is almost too bleak to bear. I do not think it outside of the realm of possibility that the oligarchs in Russia decide enough is enough, and hand Vlad some lead poisoning -- as an inside job, a few weeks from now.
Given the scores of opponents (real and imagined) that he has dispatched in a similar way, that indeed might be ironic -- and fitting. We have no answers, only more questions -- and we remain convinced that no US soldiers should die in a fight there. A largely-intractable problem, that (short of Putin being taken out by his own men). Out. . . puzzling.
नमस्ते
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