NASA has successfully integrated key parts of its $4 billion Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, marking a significant milestone in its completion. The telescope’s payload, including the instrument and spacecraft components, has been combined with the delivery vehicle for its deployment at Lagrangian point L2.
Named after the first woman to lead NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope mission, the Roman telescope was given high priority among large space-based missions following a 2010 US National Academy of Science Decadal Survey. However, it faced funding challenges in Donald Trump’s presidency, receiving zero funding twice before Congress reinstated its budget.
Scheduled to be the most stable large telescope ever built, the Roman telescope boasts a cutting-edge design with a 300-megapixel infrared camera that will enable deep, panoramic views of the universe. It can image large areas of the sky 1000 times faster than Hubble while maintaining sharp and sensitive image quality. Next steps include installing solar panels, an aperture cover to shield from unwanted light, and the telescope’s exoskeleton.
With the successful integration, NASA is now closer to completing its mission by next year, with a launch expected before May 2027. Mark Clampin, acting deputy associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA, expressed optimism about the project’s progress: “We’re a big step closer to unveiling the cosmos as never before.”
Source: https://physicsworld.com/a/nasas-nancy-grace-roman-space-telescope-nears-completion