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<\/a><\/figure>NASA\u2019s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is one giant step closer to unlocking the mysteries of the universe. The mission has now received its final major delivery: the Optical Telescope Assembly, which includes a 7.9-foot (2.4-meter) primary mirror, nine additional mirrors, and supporting structures and electronics. The assembly was delivered Nov. 7. to the largest clean room at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where the observatory is being built.<\/p>\n
The telescope will focus cosmic light and send it to Roman\u2019s instruments, revealing many billions of objects strewn throughout space and time. Using the mission\u2019s Wide Field Instrument<\/a>, a 300-megapixel infrared camera, astronomers will survey the cosmos all the way from the outskirts of our solar system toward the edge of the observable universe. Scientists will use Roman\u2019s Coronagraph Instrument<\/a> to test new technologies for dimming host stars to image planets and dusty disks around them in far better detail than ever before.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a top-notch telescope that\u2019s well aligned and has great optical performance at the cold temperatures it will see in space,\u201d said Bente Eegholm<\/a>, optics lead for Roman\u2019s Optical Telescope Assembly at NASA Goddard. \u201cI am now looking forward to the next phase where the telescope and instruments will be put together to form the Roman observatory.\u201d<\/p>\n Designed and built by L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York, the assembly incorporates key optics (including the primary mirror) that were made available to NASA by the National Reconnaissance Office. The team at L3Harris then reshaped the mirror and built upon the inherited hardware to ensure it would meet Roman\u2019s specifications for expansive, sensitive infrared observations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe telescope will be the foundation of all of the science Roman will do, so its design and performance are among the largest factors in the mission\u2019s survey capability,\u201d said Josh Abel<\/a>, lead Optical Telescope Assembly systems engineer at NASA Goddard.<\/p>\n The team at Goddard worked closely with L3Harris to ensure these stringent requirements were met and that the telescope assembly will integrate smoothly into the rest of the Roman observatory.<\/p>\n The assembly\u2019s design and performance will largely determine the quality of the mission\u2019s results, so the manufacturing and testing processes were extremely rigorous. Each optical component was tested individually prior to being assembled and assessed together earlier this year<\/a>. The tests helped ensure that the alignment of the telescope\u2019s mirrors will change as expected when the telescope reaches its operating temperature in space.<\/p>\n Then, the telescope was put through tests simulating the extreme shaking and intense sound waves associated with launch. Engineers also made sure that tiny components called actuators, which will adjust some of the mirrors in space, move as predicted. And the team measured gases released from the assembly as it transitioned from normal air pressure to a vacuum \u2013\u2013 the same phenomenon that has led astronauts to report that space smells gunpowdery or metallic<\/a>. If not carefully controlled, these gases could contaminate the telescope or instruments.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/figure>