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Opening the Universe to Everyone | Lucas Paganini on NASA's Roman Telescope
Roman Space Telescope Program Executive Lucas Paganini shares how curiosity led him to NASA—and how Roman could open the universe to people around the world.
Nancy Grace Roman's legacy as an advocate for accessibility will continue with the Roman space telescope. Roman will open the universe to people around the world.
Before Lucas Paganini helped bring one of NASA’s flagship observatories to the launch pad, he was a child growing up near the mountains of Mendoza, Argentina.
He watched Space Shuttle missions, looked up at the night sky, and wondered where his curiosity might take him. That curiosity eventually led him to learn new languages, leave his comfort zone, and build a career at NASA. Today, as program executive for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, Paganini serves as a bridge between the teams building the mission and NASA leadership while also helping ensure the people doing the work have what they need to succeed.
Her Cosmic Orbit spoke with Paganini during Roman’s final launch preparations at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. We discussed the mysteries Roman will investigate, including the still-unknown components that make up approximately 95% of the universe known as dark matter and dark energy. But for Paganini, exploration is not only about answering scientific questions, it also inspires people to imagine possibilities beyond the lives they already know.
That invitation to participate is central to Roman’s mission. The observatory will generate approximately 1.4 terabytes of data each day, and its processed observations will be accessible through a cloud-based platform. A student in Tennessee, Guatemala, Argentina, or nearly anywhere else will have an opportunity to explore the same universe as professional researchers.
Paganini’s own journey demonstrates why that access matters. He is proof that a passion for science does not have to begin at NASA or even somewhere with an obvious pathway into the space industry. It can begin with curiosity, a teacher’s encouragement, the willingness to learn, and the resilience to keep going when the journey becomes difficult.
As Paganini shares with us how curiosity led him to NASA and how Roman could open the universe to people around the world. Watch our full conversation below.
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