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Figure · National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Nancy Grace Roman

Astronomer, NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy, and a pioneer of American space astronomy. Her sustained advocacy for space observatories laid the institutional foundations for the Hubble Space Telescope.
Astronomer Nancy Grace Roman poses in 1966 with a model of what later became the Hubble Space Telescope.
Born
16 May 1925
Died
25 Dec 2018

Biography

Nancy Grace Roman (1925–2018) joined NASA in 1959 and, as the agency’s first Chief of Astronomy, connected scientists, NASA leadership, and policy decisions. She championed a program of major space observatories and played a key role in moving Hubble from concept to reality. The Roman Space Telescope bears her name in recognition of that work and her advocacy for women in science.

Timeline

Career at a glance

  1. 1925Born16 May 1925
  2. 2018Died25 December 2018

Facts

Things you may not know

  1. NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy and the agency’s first woman executive.

  2. In 1966, she posed with a model of the future Hubble Space Telescope.

  3. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has borne her name since 2020.

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