Who was Nancy Grace Roman? NASA's next big space telescope is named after the 'Mother of Hubble'

image via Space.com

August 29, 2026, 10:00 AM

• •Nancy Grace Roman was NASA’s first chief astronomer and its first female executive.
• •She established NASA’s space astronomy program in 1959, a year after the agency was founded.
• •Roman studied at Swarthmore College and the University of Chicago and was the first woman on the academic staff at Yerkes Observatory.
• •Before joining NASA, she worked at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory on stellar astronomy, galactic structure, radar studies of the moon and orbital mechanics.
• •The article says she was instrumental in organizing support and selling the Large Space Telescope concept to Congress, helping make Hubble possible.
• •Roman died on Dec. 25, 2018, and did not live to see the launch of the telescope named in her honor.

The article profiles Nancy Grace Roman, the astronomer and NASA executive for whom the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is named. It says Roman created NASA’s space astronomy program in 1959, became the agency’s first chief astronomer and first female executive, and helped shape early space science missions. The piece traces her path from an early fascination with stars through studies at Swarthmore and the University of Chicago to research roles at Yerkes Observatory and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. It argues that her most famous legacy was helping win support and funding for the Hubble Space Telescope, earning her the nickname the “mother of Hubble.”

Read original article