NASA’s New Space Telescope Is Poised to Discover Hidden Facets of the Universe

Astronomers have known for decades that an invisible substance permeates the cosmos. Detected only by its gravitational influence on visible objects, dark matter accounts for some 85 percent of all matter, enveloping entire galaxies in great spheroids that branch and interweave to form the scaffolding of the universe. But the specifications of this grand architecture remain shrouded in mystery. Driven by a ghostly force that scientists call dark energy, the universe is ever-changing, constantly expanding at an accelerating rate. A new space telescope, launching as soon as August 30 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will attempt to untangle the nature of these dark intergalactic phenomena. With the resolution of Hubble and a field of view about 100 times as big, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will provide a new way to look at the universe that could help solve some of the biggest…