The Roman Space Telescope’s primary mirror reflects an American flag. Its surface is figured to a level hundreds of times finer than a typical household mirror.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s primary mirror, which will collect and focus light from cosmic objects near and far, has been completed. Using this mirror, Roman will capture stunning space vistas with a field of view 100 times greater than Hubble images.
Crane operators lower the support equipment to move the Roman Space Telescope’s primary mirror. Using this mirror, Roman will provide a new view into the universe, helping scientists solve cosmic mysteries related to dark matter, dark energy, and planets around other stars.
Members of the Roman Space Telescope team pose with the telescope’s primary mirror at L3 Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York. The telescope just passed a key milestone review, permitting the team to move on to finalizing the telescope design.
This photo shows the setup for space environment testing of the engineering development unit for Roman’s Solar Array Sun Shield, which will serve two purposes. First, it will supply electrical power to the observatory. Second, it will shield the Optical Telescope Assembly, the Wide Field Instrument, and the Coronagraph Instrument from sunlight.
This photo shows 18 of Roman's detectors mounted in an engineering test unit of the mission's focal plane array. The focal plane array will be incorporated into Roman's Wide Field Instrument – a 300-megapixel camera that will capture enormous images of the cosmos.
Greg Mosby holds one of Roman’s detectors (left) and an entire cell phone camera (right) for size comparison. The best modern cell phone cameras can provide around 12-megapixel images, while each of Roman’s detectors contains 16 megapixels. Since Roman’s camera contains 18 detectors, it will capture 300-megapixel panoramas. The mission will conduct sweeping cosmic surveys with the same sharp resolution that the Hubble Space Telescope provides.https://stsci.box.com/s/o8kh5mfxvxrursm70f6w44s0768hgetk
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Mosaic Plate has 18 detectors, each no larger than a sticky note, that together will capture the widest views of the universe ever taken from space. With these detectors, Roman will take 300-megapixel images of the universe (the average smartphone is around 12 megapixels for comparison. This will allow astronomers to explore a vast array of celestial objects and phenomena, like galaxies, exoplanets, dark matter, and many more.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Mosaic Plate has 18 detectors, each no larger than a sticky note, that together will capture the widest views of the universe ever taken from space. With these detectors, Roman will take 300-megapixel images of the universe (the average smartphone is around 12 megapixels for comparison. This will allow astronomers to explore a vast array of celestial objects and phenomena, like galaxies, exoplanets, dark matter, and many more.
L3Harris Technologies has completed the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's Primary Mirror Assembly (PMA) test and build. The PMA includes Roman's primary mirror and support structure. The mirror is 7.9 feet (2.41 meters) in diameter, the same size as The Hubble Space Telescope mirror, but only one-fourth its weight, coming in at over 400 pounds (181.4 kg)! The mirror will collect light from the cosmos and send it to Roman's Wide Field Instrument and Coronagraph technology demonstration, helping scientists do things like map the structure and distribution of invisible dark matter, study planetary systems around other stars, and explore how the universe evolved to its present state.
L3Harris Technologies has completed the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's Primary Mirror Assembly (PMA) test and build. The PMA includes Roman's primary mirror and support structure. The mirror is 7.9 feet (2.41 meters) in diameter, the same size as The Hubble Space Telescope mirror, but only one-fourth its weight, coming in at over 400 pounds (181.4 kg). The mirror will collect light from the cosmos and send it to Roman's Wide Field Instrument and Coronagraph technology demonstration, helping scientists do things like map the structure and distribution of invisible dark matter, study planetary systems around other stars, and explore how the universe evolved to its present state.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's secondary mirror is being integrated into the flight hardware. Roughly four times smaller than Roman’s primary mirror, the secondary mirror is just 22 inches across (55.9 cm or about the size of a large tire). It’s a critical part of the forward structure assembly, which also includes the support structure. Roman's secondary mirror further focuses the light from the primary mirror and is the last optic before the light beam is split between the two channels for the Wide Field Instrument and the Coronagraph Instrument.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's secondary mirror is being integrated into the flight hardware. Roughly four times smaller than Roman’s primary mirror, the secondary mirror is just 22 inches across (55.9 cm or about the size of a large tire). It’s a critical part of the forward structure assembly, which also includes the support structure. Roman's secondary mirror further focuses the light from the primary mirror and is the last optic before the light beam is split between the two channels for the Wide Field Instrument and the Coronagraph Instrument.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a next-generation space telescope that will survey the infrared universe from beyond the orbit of the Moon. The spacecraft's giant camera, the Wide Field Instrument (WFI), will be fundamental to this exploration. The WFI features the same angular resolution as Hubble but with 100 times the field of view. Data it gathers will enable scientists to discover new and uniquely detailed information about planetary systems around other stars. The WFI will also map how matter is structured and distributed throughout the cosmos, which should ultimately allow scientists to discover the fate of the universe. Watch this video to see a simplified version of how it works.
Watch this video to learn more about the Roman Space Telescope's coronagraph instrument, – a system of masks, prisms, detectors, and even self-flexing mirrors built to block out the glare from distant stars and reveal planets in orbit around them.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Music: "Concept of Motion" from Universe Production Music