![\"Roman](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ipa-ssdif-1124-copy.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>NASA\u2019s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has successfully integrated the mission\u2019s telescope and two instruments onto the instrument carrier, marking the completion of the Roman payload. Now the team at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will begin joining the payload to the spacecraft.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in the middle of an exciting stage of mission preparation,\u201d said Jody Dawson, a Roman systems engineer at NASA Goddard. \u201cAll the components are now here at Goddard, and they\u2019re coming together in quick succession. We expect to integrate the telescope and instruments with the spacecraft before the year is up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Engineers first\u00a0integrated the Coronagraph Instrument<\/a>, a technology demonstration designed to\u00a0image exoplanets<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 worlds outside our solar system \u2014 by using a complex suite of masks and active mirrors to obscure the glare of the planets\u2019 host stars.<\/p>\n Then the team integrated the Optical Telescope Assembly<\/a>, which includes a 7.9-foot (2.4-meter) primary mirror, nine additional mirrors, and their supporting structures and electronics. The telescope will focus cosmic light and send it to Roman\u2019s instruments, revealing billions of objects strewn throughout space and time. Roman will be the most stable large telescope ever built, at least 10 times more so than NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope and 100 times more than the agency\u2019s Hubble Space Telescope. This will allow scientists to make measurements at levels of precision that can answer important questions about dark energy<\/a>, dark matter<\/a>, and worlds beyond our solar system<\/a>.<\/p>\n With those components in place, the team then added Roman\u2019s primary instrument. Called the Wide Field Instrument<\/a>, this 300-megapixel infrared camera<\/a> will give Roman a deep, panoramic view of the universe. Through the Wide Field Instrument\u2019s surveys<\/a>, scientists will be able to explore distant exoplanets<\/a>, stars, galaxies, black holes, dark energy<\/a>, dark matter<\/a>, and more. Thanks to this instrument and the observatory\u2019s efficiency, Roman will be able to image large areas of the sky 1,000 times faster than Hubble with the same sharp, sensitive image quality.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be quicker to list the astronomy topics Roman won\u2019t be able to address than those it will,\u201d said Julie McEnery, the Roman senior project scientist at NASA Goddard. \u201cWe\u2019ve never had a tool like this before. Roman will revolutionize the way we do astronomy.\u201d<\/p>\n The telescope and instruments were mounted to Roman\u2019s instrument carrier and precisely aligned in the largest clean room at Goddard, where the observatory is being assembled. Now, the whole assembly is being attached to the Roman spacecraft<\/a>, which will deliver the observatory to its orbit and enable it to function once there.<\/p>\n At the same time, the mission\u2019s\u00a0deployable aperture cover<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 a visor that will shield the telescope from unwanted light \u2014 is being joined to the\u00a0outer barrel assembly<\/a>, which serves as the telescope\u2019s exoskeleton.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had an incredible year, and we\u2019re looking forward to another one!\u201d said Bear Witherspoon, a Roman systems engineer at NASA Goddard. \u201cWhile the payload and spacecraft undergo a smattering of testing together, the team will work toward integrating the solar panels onto the outer barrel assembly.\u201d<\/p>\n That keeps the observatory on track for completion by fall 2026 and launch no later than May 2027.<\/p>\n To virtually tour an interactive version of the telescope, visit:<\/p>\n https:\/\/roman.gsfc.nasa.gov\/interactive<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is managed at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, with participation by NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech\/IPAC in Southern California, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, and a science team comprising scientists from various research institutions. The primary industrial partners are BAE Systems Inc. in Boulder, Colorado; L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York; and Teledyne Scientific & Imaging in Thousand Oaks, California.<\/p>\n By Ashley Balzer<\/em><\/strong> \u200b\u200bMedia Contact:<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Claire Andreoli<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/figure>
NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, Greenbelt, Md.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
301-286-1940<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nShare<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n