Because it shrinks when other materials expand, ALLVAR Alloy 30 can be used to strategically compensate for the expansion and contraction of other materials. The alloy’s unique NTE property and lack of moisture expansion could enable optic designers to address the stability needs of future telescope structures. Calculations have indicated that integrating ALLVAR Alloy 30 into certain telescope designs could improve thermal stability up to 200 times compared to only using traditional materials like aluminum, titanium, Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRPs), and the nickel–iron alloy, Invar.To demonstrate that negative thermal expansion alloys can enable ultra-stable structures, the ALLVAR team developed a hexapod structure to separate two mirrors made of a commercially available glass ceramic material with ultra-low thermal expansion properties. Invar was bonded to the mirrors and flexures made of Ti6Al4V—a titanium alloy commonly used in aerospace applications—were attached to the Invar. To compensate for the positive CTEs of the Invar and Ti6Al4V components, an NTE ALLVAR Alloy 30 tube was used between the Ti6Al4V flexures to create the struts separating the two mirrors. The natural positive thermal expansion of the Invar and Ti6Al4V components is offset by the negative thermal expansion of the NTE alloy struts, resulting in a structure with an effective zero thermal expansion.The stability of the structure was evaluated at the University of Florida Institute for High Energy Physics and Astrophysics. The hexapod structure exhibited stability well below the 100 pm/√Hz target and achieved 11 pm/√Hz. This first iteration is close to the 10 pm stability required for the future Habitable Worlds Observatory. A paper and presentation made at the August 2021 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers conference provides details about this analysis.Furthermore, a series of tests run by NASA Marshall showed that the ultra-stable struts were able to achieve a near-zero thermal expansion that matched the mirrors in the above analysis. This result translates into less than a 5 nm root mean square (rms) change in the mirror’s shape across a 28K temperature change.Beyond ultra-stable structures, the NTE alloy technology has enabled enhanced passive thermal switch performance and has been used to remove the detrimental effects of temperature changes on bolted joints and infrared optics. These applications could impact technologies used in other NASA missions. For example, these new alloys have been integrated into the cryogenic sub-assembly of Roman’s coronagraph technology demonstration. The addition of NTE washers enabled the use of pyrolytic graphite thermal straps for more efficient heat transfer.
The Roman project continues to operate within its life-cycle cost of $4.3 billion and launch readiness date of May 2027.
On June 14 and 16, technicians installed solar panels onto NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, one of the final steps in assembling the observatory. Collectively called the Solar Array Sun Shield, these panels will power and shade the observatory, enabling all the mission’s observations and helping keep the instruments cool.“At this point, the observatory is about 90% complete,” said Jack Marshall, the Solar Array Sun Shield lead at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “We just need to join two large assemblies, and then we’ll run the whole Roman observatory through a series of tests. We’re currently on track for launch several months earlier than the promised date of no later than May 2027.” The team is working toward launch as early as fall 2026.The Solar Array Sun Shield is made up of six panels, each covered in solar cells. The two central panels will remain fixed to the outer barrel assembly (the observatory’s outer shell) while the other four will deploy once Roman is in space, swinging up to align with the center panels.The panels will spend the entirety of the mission facing the Sun to provide a steady supply of power to the observatory’s electronics. This orientation will also shade much of the observatory and help keep the instruments cool, which is critical for an infrared observatory. Since infrared light is detectable as heat, excess warmth from the spacecraft’s own components would saturate the detectors and effectively blind the telescope.“Now that the panels have been installed, the outer portion of the Roman observatory is complete,” said Goddard’s Aaron Vigil, a mechanical engineer working on the array. Next, technicians will test deploy the solar panels and the observatory’s “visor” (the deployable aperture cover). The team is also testing the core portion of the observatory, assessing the electronics and conducting a thermal vacuum test to ensure the system operates as planned in the harsh space environment.This will keep the project on track to connect Roman’s inner and outer segments in November, resulting in a whole observatory by the end of the year that can then undergo pre-launch tests.
Technicians have successfully installed two sunshields onto NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s inner segment. Along with the observatory’s Solar Array Sun Shield and Deployable Aperture Cover, the panels (together called the Lower Instrument Sun Shade), will play a critical role in keeping Roman’s instruments cool and stable as the mission explores the infrared universe.The team is on track to join Roman’s outer and inner assemblies this fall to complete the full observatory, which can then undergo further prelaunch testing.“This shield is like an extremely strong sunblock for Roman’s sensitive instruments, protecting them from heat and light from the Sun that would otherwise overwhelm our ability to detect faint signals from space,” said Matthew Stephens, an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.The sunshade, which was designed and engineered at NASA Goddard, is essentially an extension of Roman’s solar panels, except without solar cells. Each sunshade flap is roughly the size of a garage door — about 7 by 7 feet (2.1 by 2.1 meters) — and 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) thick.“They’re basically giant aluminum sandwiches, with metal sheets as thin as a credit card on the top and bottom and the central portion made up of a honeycomb structure,” said Conrad Mason, an aerospace engineer at NASA Goddard.This design makes the panels lightweight yet stiff, and the material helps limit heat transfer from the side facing the Sun to the back—no small feat considering the front will be hot enough to boil water (up to 216 degrees Fahrenheit, or 102 degrees Celsius) while the back will be much colder than Antarctica’s harshest winter (minus 211 Fahrenheit, or minus 135 Celsius). A specialized polymer film blanket will wrap around each panel to temper the heat, with 17 layers on the Sun side and one on the shaded side.The sunshade will be stowed and gently deploy around an hour after launch.“The deploying mechanisms have dampers that work like soft-close hinges for drawers or cabinets, so the panels won’t slam open and rattle the observatory,” Stephens said. “They each take about two minutes to move into their final positions. This is the very first system that Roman will deploy in space after the spacecraft separates from the launch vehicle.”Now completely assembled, Roman’s inner segment is slated to undergo a 70-day thermal vacuum test next. Engineers and scientists will test the full functionality of the spacecraft, telescope, and instruments under simulated space conditions. Following the test, the sunshade will be temporarily removed while the team joins Roman’s outer and inner assemblies, and then reattached to complete the observatory. The mission remains on track for launch no later than May 2027 with the team aiming for as early as fall 2026.
EXPLANATION OF MAJOR CHANGES IN FY 2026 FY 2026 development funding for Roman is $156.6 million, significantly lower than previous projections. NASA is actively evaluating cost-saving strategies and identifying schedule optimization opportunities to enable the mission to proceed with this reduced funding level. These efforts will proceed in parallel with ongoing integration and testing activities throughout FY 2026 to help protect the mission’s scientific goals and maintain progress toward a successful launch.
Roman is planned for a primary mission lifetime of five years, with enough propellant for at least five years of extended mission.
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS PLANNED FOR FY 2026 The Roman Space Telescope project is currently planning to complete several major mission milestones in Fiscal Year (FY) 2026. These include completion of the testing phase, the Pre-Ship Review, the Flight Operations Review, and the Operational Readiness Review. Successfully completing these key reviews will position the mission for a potential launch as early as October 2026, while preserving substantial schedule margin to meet the baseline launch readiness date in May 2027.
NASA’s nearly complete Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has made another set of critical strides toward launch. This fall, the outer portion passed two tests — a shake test and an intense sound blast — to ensure its successful launch. The inner portion of the observatory underwent a major 65-day thermal vacuum test, showing that it will function properly in space. As NASA’s next flagship space telescope, Roman will address essential questions in the areas of dark energy, planets outside our solar system, and astrophysics.“We want to make sure Roman will withstand our harshest environments,” said Rebecca Espina, a deputy test director at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “From a mechanical standpoint, our heaviest loads and stresses come from launch, so we use testing to mimic the launch environment.”The vibration and acoustic testing were the final round of launch simulations for the outer portion of the Roman observatory, which consists of the outer barrel assembly, deployable aperture cover, and recently installed flight solar panels.During acoustic testing, a large chamber with gigantic horns emulated the launch’s thunderous sounds, which cause high-frequency vibrations. Test operators outfitted the chamber and assembly with various sensors to monitor the hardware’s response to the sound, which gradually ramped up to a full minute at 138 decibels — louder than a jet plane’s takeoff at close range!After moving to a massive shaker table, Roman’s outer assembly went through testing to replicate the rocket launch’s lower-frequency vibrations. Each individual test lasts only about a minute, sweeping from 5 to 50 hertz (the lowest note on a grand piano vibrates at 27.5 hertz), but NASA engineers tested three axes of movement over several weeks, breaking up the tests with on-the-spot data analysis.Like in acoustic testing, the team installed sensors to capture the assembly’s response to the shaking. Structural analysts and test operators use this information not only to evaluate success but also to improve models and subsequent assessments.“There’s a real sense of accomplishment when you get a piece of hardware this large through this test program,” said Shelly Conkey, lead structural analyst for this assembly at NASA Goddard. “I am proud of the work that our team of people has done.”The core portion of the observatory (the telescope, instrument carrier, two instruments, and spacecraft bus) moved into the Space Environment Simulator test chamber at NASA Goddard in August. There, it was subjected to extreme temperatures to mimic the chill of space and heat from the Sun. A team of more than 200 people ran simulations continuously for more than two months straight, assessing the telescope’s optics and the assembly’s overall mission readiness.“The thermal vacuum test marked the first time the telescope and instruments were used together,” said Dominic Benford, Roman’s program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The next time we turn everything on will be when the observatory is in space!”The team expects to connect Roman’s two major parts in November, resulting in a complete observatory by the end of the year. Following final tests, Roman will move to the launch site at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch preparations in summer 2026. Roman remains on schedule for launch by May 2027, with the team aiming for as early as fall 2026.
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope@NASARomanRome wasn't built in a day, but Roman just came together in one! The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has finished final integration at the @NASAGoddard Space Flight Center.
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope@NASARoman2/2: Roman isn't just pretty to look at — it will also change the way we understand and observe our universe. This observatory is named after @NASA's first chief of astronomy and will have a field of view at least 100 times larger than @NASAHubble's at the same exceptional infrared resolution.
Here are the launches and landings we’re most excited about in 20267 jan 2026[...]10. NASA’s Roman Space TelescopeThe next of NASA’s flagship-class astronomical observatories is now fully assembled at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, named for NASA’s first chief astronomer, will have a field of view at least 100 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope. Roman’s primary science instrument will perform wide-area surveys of the Universe, covering 50 times more of the sky in five years than Hubble did in its first 30 years.A secondary coronagraph instrument will advance astronomers’ ability to directly image exoplanets. NASA announced in December that assembly of Roman was completed, kicking off a series of environmental tests before its scheduled launch no earlier than September on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Chance of the Roman Space Telescope launching in 2026: 80 percent.[...]
Roman Space Telescope on track for September launchJanuary 8, 2026[...]The telescope is fully assembled and housed in a clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Vibration and acoustic testing are scheduled to begin in February, said Julie McEnery, Roman’s senior project scientist.If those tests proceed as planned, the spacecraft will ship to Florida in June for launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The launch is currently scheduled for Sept. 28.[...]
