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The $4.3 billion Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is scheduled for launch Aug. 30.
Why it matters: Named for NASA's first chief astronomer, the observatory is expected to reveal new information about the expansion of the universe and discover multitudes of planets orbiting distant stars.
The universe is a strange place — filled with exploding stars, ancient galaxies, and unseen worlds. Now, astronomers are about to get a brand new tool to explore it.
For new discoveries, everyday mysteries, and the science behind the headlines, follow NPR’s Short Wave podcast.
The $4.3 billion Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is scheduled for launch Aug. 30. Named for NASA's first chief astronomer, the observatory is expected to reveal new information about the expansion of the universe and discover multitudes of planets orbiting distant stars.
Roman, as it is known to its friends, has an unusual history. About 15 years ago NASA was making plans to build a space telescope that could, among other things, search for exploding stars known as Type 1A supernovas. These supernovas were used as a kind of cosmological measuring stick to uncover a mysterious force called dark energy that was causing the universe to expand — a discovery that earned the Nobel Prize in 2011.
Cosmologist Daniel Scolnic at Duke University says finding more of them would be key to better understanding that expansion.
As NASA was developing plans for this new telescope, a call came in from the government office in charge of surveillance satellites.
"The National Reconnaissance Office reached out to NASA," Scolnic says, "saying, 'We have this amazing satellite sitting in a hangar that we're not using. And what what do you guys think about instead of pointing downwards, we point upwards, and you guys use it?'"
NASA said yes. It took some substantial modifications, but now that old satellite is set to become NASA's next major space observatory.
Scolnic says that the new observatory could fundamentally change the scientific model that astronomers use to understand our universe.
"In the last few years, there have been measurements saying that model might be wrong — and that's something that Roman will absolutely nail, whether the model's right or wrong," he says.
Another goal of the telescope is to spend a month surveying all the stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Julie McEnery is Roman's project scientist. She says even though Roman has broadly the same sensitivity and sharpness of vision as the currently orbiting Hubble Space Telescope, its design lets it do things much faster.
"That one month of observations to survey our Milky Way galaxy would take about a century with Hubble," says McEnery.
Instead of focusing on a single object, Roman is designed to make catalogs of large swaths of the sky, and McEnery says these catalogs will be available to everyone, not just academics.
"You can be a teacher in a high school in Kentucky and your students have the opportunity to see Roman data at the same time as a professor in Princeton," she says.
One professor eager to get his hands on Roman data is Scott Gaudi at The Ohio State University. Along with colleagues, Gaudi developed a technique for detecting planets around distant stars. It's called gravitational microlensing, and it measures the way those planets bend the starlight that passes them by.
Albert Einstein described the idea in 1936 but thought it would be impractical. New technology has proven him wrong — and Gaudi expects Roman will find tons of planets that way.
"We're looking for planets that are just completely undetectable by any other method," Gaudi says. That includes planets at the center of our galaxy, "that are very analogous to our own solar system planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune."
In addition to new planets, Roman should also reveal new galaxies, helping astronomers to get a better idea of the large-scale structure of the universe.
But predicting what will be Roman's greatest accomplishments over the course of its five-year mission is a tricky business.
"The history of astronomy really has shown that when you get a new capability, and especially a survey capability, you learn something new, something unexpected," says Wendy Freedman, an astronomer at the University of Chicago. "Often that turns out to be the most exciting part of a new facility. So I am completely open to what this telescope will find."
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Friends & Family Flea is returning to Koreatown. Organizers plan to make the flea market a monthly event in the neighborhood and offer reduced registration fees for local vendors.
Why it matters: The first market was held in September and drew more people to the space than organizers expected. Friends & Family Flea co-founder Kioh Park said more than 400 people RSVP’d but roughly 650 to 700 people attended.
The backstory: The flea grew out of Park and Byun’s experience building MAUM Market, a traveling market for Asian and Asian American makers. Park, who grew up in South Korea, first visited Los Angeles in 2016 and later moved to Koreatown, where the two met and developed their business.
Read on... for more on the next flea markets.
This story first appeared on The LA Local.
Friends & Family Flea is returning to Koreatown. Organizers plan to make the flea market a monthly event in the neighborhood and offer reduced registration fees for local vendors.
The market will take place on Nov. 21 and Dec. 12 from noon to 5 p.m. at Un-Other Space at 524 S. Western Ave.
The first market was held in September and drew more people to the space than organizers expected. Friends & Family Flea co-founder Kioh Park said more than 400 people RSVP’d but roughly 650 to 700 people attended.
Some attendees told Park they lived just a few blocks away and had learned about the market through social media or The LA Local’s coverage.
The response convinced the organizers to continue.
“It was a trial, but definitely we saw the demand from the vendors and attendees,” Park said. “That’s why we want to keep pushing this.”
Organizers plan to invite back vendors from the first market while bringing in new vendors.
They plan to keep the market at Un-Other Space as vendors and attendees responded well to the indoor venue, Park said.
The organizers are also trying to make the market more accessible to neighborhood businesses. Vendors based in Koreatown can qualify for a reduced registration fee by providing proof of their address, such as a driver’s license or mailing address. Vendors from outside the neighborhood pay a different rate.
“Just so we can have more people who live in that neighborhood and then who do small business there join,” Park said.
The resident-rate program is part of their broader goal of building markets around individual neighborhoods, Park added.
The flea grew out of Park and Byun’s experience building MAUM Market, a traveling market for Asian and Asian American makers. Park, who grew up in South Korea, first visited Los Angeles in 2016 and later moved to Koreatown, where the two met and developed their business.
“L.A. Koreatown was really, it was really kind of a shock. It feels like a late 1980s, early 1990s, Korea vibe. So it reminds me of my childhood. And there’s a lot of mom and pop shops, so it was really an interesting experience for me,” he said.
Park said he had struggled to apply to established flea markets as a vendor because of language barriers and complicated paperwork.
“Back in the day, I didn’t speak English well, I wasn’t able to understand English well, and the process, paperwork was all very complicated,” he said.
Park said organizers plan to continue their partnership with the Koreatown Youth and Community Center, with proceeds from sales of Friends & Family Flea hats going to the nonprofit.
For more information about becoming a vendor, check out the Friends and Family Flea webpage.
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The West Hollywood City Council has rejected an effort that could have delayed plans to add protected bike lanes to Fountain Avenue.
The vote: The motion failed in a 3-2 vote on Monday night. It would have directed staff to evaluate an alternative plan for the road that maintained street parking but didn’t include bike lanes. West Hollywood City Councilmembers Chelsea Byers and John Erickson and Vice Mayor Danny Hang voted to reject the motion. Mayor John Heilman and City Councilmember Lauren Meister, who introduced the motion, supported the effort.
What happens next: The first phase of the project is set to begin construction before the end of the year. The plan includes reducing traffic lanes, pedestrian improvements and protected bike lanes.
The motion: Meister’s motion, which critics said came at the last minute, aimed to avoid the loss of 60% of the street’s parking as a result of the roadway changes. Meister said on Monday her motion was an attempt to weigh the approved plan against an alternative that “might accomplish the same safety objectives while preserving parking.”
Reaction to the vote: Michael Schneider is the founder and CEO of Streets for All, a transportation advocacy group that mobilized bike lane supporters before Monday’s meeting. In a text to LAist, Schneider said “common sense prevailed” and that he looks forward to construction starting.
Watch the meeting: If you’re looking to hear impassioned public comment and West Hollywood City Council members trade jabs, the Fountain Avenue item begins at around 2:06:20 in the meeting recording.
Read more: LAist previewed last night’s meeting with additional context, which you can read here.
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An Orange County judge has approved a $125 million settlement with the company that owns a chemical tank in Garden Grove that malfunctioned earlier this year.
The backstory: The emergency incident forced about 50,000 nearby residents to evacuate for days as the tank threatened to explode.
What’s new: The agreement sets aside up to $100 million for a claim program for residents and businesses who were forced to evacuate. Those affected can be reimbursed for expenses like hotel stays and loss of wages.
What’s next: GKN Aerospace, the company that owns the tank, said the claims program will open up as soon as possible and that it will hold a community event on Oct. 27.
An Orange County judge has approved a $125 million settlement with the company that owns a chemical tank in Garden Grove that failed earlier this year, forcing about 50,000 nearby residents to evacuate for days as the tank threatened to explode.
The agreement between the Orange County District Attorney and GKN Aerospace sets aside up to $100 million for a claim program for residents and businesses who were forced to evacuate.
Those affected can be reimbursed for expenses like hotel stays and loss of wages. That includes:
An additional $8.5 million will be used to reimburse government agencies that responded to the emergency.
The company has agreed to a safety plan, which includes new equipment and upgrades to existing equipment, and monitoring and oversight for at least the next seven years.
GKN says it will hold a community event on Oct. 27 so residents can learn about the claim program, though details about the event haven’t yet been released.
The company says now that the agreement has been court-approved, the claim program will open “as soon as possible.” To prepare, GKN said residents should keep receipts related to their expenses during their evacuation.
"Additional guidance on acceptable documentation will be provided when the program opens," according to a company FAQ site.
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Police in California are investigating the theft of trading cards worth at least $963,000 that were taken from a FedEx truck parked outside of a company that verifies memorabilia. The truck was broken into on Oct. 13 near Professional Sports Authenticator, also known as PSA, which authenticates trading cards, autographs, comic books, and other memorabilia and grades their condition, Santa Ana Police Department spokesperson Natalie Garcia said in a news release. Pokémon and sports cards were among the items that were stolen, the release said.
The backstory: The driver had left the truck unattended, Garcia said in a follow-up email Tuesday. How long the driver was gone is part of the investigation, she said. The truck’s lock was gone and two pallets were taken, she said. A third pallet was disturbed. “The estimated value of the stolen cards at the time of the incident was $963,000. However, the exact value of the stolen items has not yet been determined,” Garcia said in the news release.
What's next: PSA’s parent company, Collectors, said it has “deactivated the certificates for the stolen cards and notified marketplace partners so they can be on the lookout for rare and serialized items.” The company also said it contacted affected customers directly and arranged for compensation based on fair market value. Both FedEx and Collectors said they are working with law enforcement.
Police in Santa Ana are investigating the theft of trading cards worth at least $963,000 that were taken from a FedEx truck parked outside of a company that verifies memorabilia.
The truck was broken into on Oct. 13 near Professional Sports Authenticator, also known as PSA, which authenticates trading cards, autographs, comic books, and other memorabilia and grades their condition, Santa Ana Police Department spokesperson Natalie Garcia said in a news release. Pokémon and sports cards were among the items that were stolen, the release said.
The driver had left the truck unattended, Garcia said in a follow-up email Tuesday. How long the driver was gone is part of the investigation, she said.
The truck’s lock was gone and two pallets were taken, she said. A third pallet was disturbed.
“The estimated value of the stolen cards at the time of the incident was $963,000. However, the exact value of the stolen items has not yet been determined,” Garcia said in the news release.
Nick Andrews, a card collector near Boston, told The Associated Press the value of what was taken could be much higher.
PSA’s parent company, Collectors, said it has “deactivated the certificates for the stolen cards and notified marketplace partners so they can be on the lookout for rare and serialized items.”
The company also said it contacted affected customers directly and arranged for compensation based on fair market value.
Both FedEx and Collectors said they are working with law enforcement.
“The security of our customers’ shipments is a top priority,” FedEx spokesperson David Westrick said in a statement.
FedEx referred additional questions to police.
Some people who identified themselves as customers posted online that they got an email from PSA explaining what happened to their cards. They were worried they would never see them again or receive proper compensation.
Andrews, who collects vintage sports and Pokémon cards, told the AP in a phone interview that he was not affected by the theft but has heard from at least two dozen people who were.
“Thousands of cards, most likely, and millions of dollars, most likely,” he said of the losses collectors suffered.
He said one person who submitted cards for grading on behalf of several people told him that they lost half a million dollars in declared value.
PSA’s parent company did not get into specifics on losses in its statement.
“We understand the impact this has on collectors involved, many of whom see these cards as far more than a financial asset,” the statement from Collectors said. “Our team is focused on supporting them. We take this incident seriously, and we will continue working with law enforcement to hold those responsible accountable.”
