NASA says its Nancy Grace Roman Telescope will launch on a Falcon Heavy rocket in October 2026. Contract is valued at $255 million, which includes the launch service and other mission related costs.
NASA has selected Falcon Heavy to launch the Roman Space Telescope, which is designed to study dark energy and dark matter, search for and image exoplanets, and more. Liftoff is targeted for no earlier than October 2026 from Launch Complex 39A in Florida
Jul 19, 2022CONTRACT RELEASE C22-015NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Roman Space TelescopeNASA has awarded a NASA Launch Services (NLS) II contract to Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) in Hawthorne, California, to provide launch service for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope mission. The Roman Space Telescope is the top-priority large space mission recommended by the 2010 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey.NLS II is an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. The total cost for NASA to launch the Roman telescope is approximately $255 million, which includes the launch service and other mission related costs. The telescope’s mission currently is targeted to launch in October 2026, as specified in the contract, on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.The telescope’s science program will include dedicated investigations to tackle outstanding questions in cosmology, including the effects of dark energy and dark matter, and exoplanet exploration. Roman also includes a substantial general investigator program to enable further studies of astrophysical phenomena to advance other science goals.The telescope was previously known as the Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST), but it was later renamed in honor of Dr. Nancy Grace Roman for her extraordinary work at NASA, which paved the way for large space telescopes.NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch vehicle program management of the SpaceX launch service. The Roman Space Telescope project is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.For more information about NASA programs and missions, visit:https://www.nasa.gov-end-
A high-resolution illustration of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope against a starry background.Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
May 2027 is the formal launch commitment date (no later than) for Roman, but the target is still October 2026.
Would this launch require an extended fairing?
Quote from: tyrred on 07/19/2022 09:24 pmWould this launch require an extended fairing? Quote from: tyrred on 07/19/2022 09:24 pmWould this launch require an extended fairing? It might given FIA/KH spacecraft heritage however the finalised spacecraft dimensions i cannot locate however I would ballpark compare it between Herschel and Hubble.
Why is this launch so expensive ($255M)? IIRC a fully expended Falcon Heavy launch is ~$150M and if there's reuse that lowers prices. IIRC previous NASA Falcon launches have been priced ~$50M more than usual due to government paperwork. Is there $100M of extra paperwork for this launch?
Can't find the standard Falcon payload fairing dimensions at the moment, my Google-fu is weak on mobile. Anyone else have those numbers?
Quote from: russianhalo117 on 07/19/2022 10:19 pmQuote from: tyrred on 07/19/2022 09:24 pmWould this launch require an extended fairing? Quote from: tyrred on 07/19/2022 09:24 pmWould this launch require an extended fairing? It might given FIA/KH spacecraft heritage however the finalised spacecraft dimensions i cannot locate however I would ballpark compare it between Herschel and Hubble.Ok. Dimensions via Wikipedia (sans payload adaptors) :Herschel: 7.5 m × 4.0 m (25 ft × 13 ft)Hubble: 13.2 m × 4.2 m (43 ft × 14 ft)Can't find the standard Falcon payload fairing dimensions at the moment, my Google-fu is weak on mobile. Anyone else have those numbers? Can't find Falcon
Quote from: deltaV on 07/19/2022 10:37 pmWhy is this launch so expensive ($255M)? IIRC a fully expended Falcon Heavy launch is ~$150M and if there's reuse that lowers prices. IIRC previous NASA Falcon launches have been priced ~$50M more than usual due to government paperwork. Is there $100M of extra paperwork for this launch?Possible, but unlikely, reason being NASA going halfsies on the proposed NSL supporting LC-39A VIF with the NRO?
I am assuming NASA would want to launch this on a US rocket, given this is much less an international project compared to JWST. Tory stated earlier this year that ULA would not bid Vulcan for this mission, leaving only SpaceX and possibly Blue Origin if they choose to bid. Given that SpaceX becomes the default, and maybe only logical choice in this circumstance, why not grab some extra money for an almost guaranteed contract?
Quote from: spacenuance on 07/19/2022 11:12 pmI am assuming NASA would want to launch this on a US rocket, given this is much less an international project compared to JWST. Tory stated earlier this year that ULA would not bid Vulcan for this mission, leaving only SpaceX and possibly Blue Origin if they choose to bid. Given that SpaceX becomes the default, and maybe only logical choice in this circumstance, why not grab some extra money for an almost guaranteed contract? No, the contract has not to exceed prices
I think what 'spacenuance' was implying was that SpaceX's bid for this mission might have been higher than the minimum they could have bid with those same services and still had a profit.
Quote from: Jim on 07/20/2022 12:30 amQuote from: spacenuance on 07/19/2022 11:12 pmI am assuming NASA would want to launch this on a US rocket, given this is much less an international project compared to JWST. Tory stated earlier this year that ULA would not bid Vulcan for this mission, leaving only SpaceX and possibly Blue Origin if they choose to bid. Given that SpaceX becomes the default, and maybe only logical choice in this circumstance, why not grab some extra money for an almost guaranteed contract? No, the contract has not to exceed pricesWith FAR is there additional protections when a contract is sole source which forces the supplier to do some justification for the contract price? Our was it just a matter of SpaceX and NASA negotiating and NASA told SpaceX this is our not to exceed price so SpaceX just bid that price?
The NLS II contract is IDIQ and NTE prices were negotiated years ago.
Quote from: tyrred on 07/19/2022 10:51 pmQuote from: russianhalo117 on 07/19/2022 10:19 pmQuote from: tyrred on 07/19/2022 09:24 pmWould this launch require an extended fairing? Quote from: tyrred on 07/19/2022 09:24 pmWould this launch require an extended fairing? It might given FIA/KH spacecraft heritage however the finalised spacecraft dimensions i cannot locate however I would ballpark compare it between Herschel and Hubble.Ok. Dimensions via Wikipedia (sans payload adaptors) :Herschel: 7.5 m × 4.0 m (25 ft × 13 ft)Hubble: 13.2 m × 4.2 m (43 ft × 14 ft)Can't find the standard Falcon payload fairing dimensions at the moment, my Google-fu is weak on mobile. Anyone else have those numbers? Can't find FalconIIRC, NRGT / WFIRST was supposed to be slightly smaller than the Hubble in terms of length. I can't seem to google up any reference to its physical dimensions, though, which is weird.
Quote from: deltaV on 07/19/2022 10:37 pmWhy is this launch so expensive ($255M)? IIRC a fully expended Falcon Heavy launch is ~$150M and if there's reuse that lowers prices. IIRC previous NASA Falcon launches have been priced ~$50M more than usual due to government paperwork. Is there $100M of extra paperwork for this launch?Well......Falcon Heavy is almost in the same situation as Delta IV Heavy. It flies rarely, more rarely than expected, so not only does SpaceX have the bargaining power due to having the only flying SHLV at the moment, but it probably costs SpaceX more than they thought it would cost back when they were projecting like 10 Falcon Heavies per year or whatever. And it's for 5 years from now, when they hope to be doing the vast majority of their launches with Starship.Then again, tons of commonality with Falcon 9, obviously, so it's not as bad as Delta IV Heavy which only had commonality with Delta IV medium, which rarely flew.Plus, if you adjust $150 million for inflation since 2013 when Falcon Heavy was announced until today, it's $190 million. And if adjusted through 2027 at ~3% compound annual interest, then it's about $220 million.And it has to use the longer, more expensive fairing.
Is it a reasonable assumption that NGRST requires vertical integration? Dealing with gravity sag in large mirrors in one axis is annoying enough, in two orthogonal axes would be worse. NGRST's design is also constrained by some design assumptions made for FIA due to the donated telescope assemblies, and FIA was conceived when vertical integration for national security launches was the norm.
If I were a SpaceX accountant, I would be looking at the cost of FH missions. Based on the current track record, it appears that every single FH payload slips, sometimes a lot. But SpaceX must commit to the original launch date, which means they must tie up resources that could otherwise be applied to other things.
Reading the press release."NLS II is an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. The total cost for NASA to launch the Roman telescope is approximately $255 million, which includes the launch service and other mission related costs. "For that $255M could those other mission related costs be a separate contractor from SpaceX? For example could a different contractor be charging $40M to transport the telescope to KSC, test and then integrate the payload onto the FH? However that $40M cost is part of the $255M to launch the telescope but isn't part of what SpaceX is doing which is the launch service.
Quote from: DanClemmensen on 07/20/2022 04:26 amIf I were a SpaceX accountant, I would be looking at the cost of FH missions. Based on the current track record, it appears that every single FH payload slips, sometimes a lot. But SpaceX must commit to the original launch date, which means they must tie up resources that could otherwise be applied to other things.No, they get reimbursed for payload slips.
Those other things could be things like 1. transport of the telescope from the manufacturing location to KSC; 2. NASA personnel helping with or watching over the integration on the rocket; 3. propellant for the telescope; 4. NASA personnel monitoring and controlling the telescope during the launch and its cruise towards SEL2
Quote from: tyrred on 07/19/2022 10:51 pmQuote from: russianhalo117 on 07/19/2022 10:19 pmQuote from: tyrred on 07/19/2022 09:24 pmWould this launch require an extended fairing? Quote from: tyrred on 07/19/2022 09:24 pmWould this launch require an extended fairing? It might given FIA/KH spacecraft heritage however the finalised spacecraft dimensions i cannot locate however I would ballpark compare it between Herschel and Hubble.Ok. Dimensions via Wikipedia (sans payload adaptors) :Herschel: 7.5 m × 4.0 m (25 ft × 13 ft)Hubble: 13.2 m × 4.2 m (43 ft × 14 ft)Can't find the standard Falcon payload fairing dimensions at the moment, my Google-fu is weak on mobile. Anyone else have those numbers? Can't find Falconhere you go.
Good. I'm glad I'm not a SpaceX accountant. I wonder of those reimbursements cover all of the costs, some of which would be difficult to quantify. Can SpaceX specify a fixed monthly delay cost, or must they justify the payment based on some computation of actual delay-related costs?
12.4m height in On-orbit science configuration so yes Extended PLF is required:Slides: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=39248.msg2388006#msg2388006
NASA spokesperson said the Roman telescope can fit inside SpaceX’s standard Falcon Heavy payload fairing.
I’m skeptical. Probably that is being misunderstood. SpaceX now offers the extended fairing as a pre-developed option since they’re already developing it for another payload(a).
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/nasa-completes-heart-of-roman-space-telescope-s-primary-instrument [May 16]QuoteThe heart of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was recently delivered to Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colorado, for integration into the WFI (Wide Field Instrument). Called the FPS (Focal Plane System), it serves as the core of Roman’s camera. When the mission launches by May 2027, astronomers will use this system to gather exquisite images to help unravel the secrets of dark energy and dark matter, discover exoplanets, and explore many topics in infrared astrophysics.
The heart of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was recently delivered to Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colorado, for integration into the WFI (Wide Field Instrument). Called the FPS (Focal Plane System), it serves as the core of Roman’s camera. When the mission launches by May 2027, astronomers will use this system to gather exquisite images to help unravel the secrets of dark energy and dark matter, discover exoplanets, and explore many topics in infrared astrophysics.
Engineers at L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York, have combined all 10 mirrors for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Preliminary tests show the newly aligned optics, collectively called the IOA (Imaging Optics Assembly), will direct light into Roman’s science instruments extremely precisely. This will yield crisp images of space once the observatory launches.“This is the pre-launch first light, our first time seeing through the entire telescope,” said Joshua Abel, the lead systems engineer for the Roman Space Optical Telescope Assembly at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “We’re excited to enter the next phase of the project!”Each of Roman’s mirrors had passed individual tests, but this was the first time they were assessed together. Engineers had to make sure light would move through all of the optics in a tightly controlled way, or else the telescope’s images would appear blurred.“The telescope’s optics are crucial for all of Roman’s future observations,” said Bente Eegholm, an optical engineer working on Roman’s Optical Telescope Assembly at Goddard. “In addition to the large primary mirror and the secondary mirror, eight relay mirrors serve Roman’s two science instruments. All 10 telescope mirrors need to be aligned to well within the width of a human hair in order to optimize the telescope’s imaging quality such that Roman can fully achieve its science goals.”The meticulous month-long alignment process involved a series of iterations to bring test images into ever-sharper focus. Once the mirrors were all properly situated, technicians permanently locked them in place. Three of the mirrors will still be movable in space thanks to actuators – mechanisms that control the mirrors’ positions – which will allow astronomers to fine-tune the alignment even further once Roman begins its observations.The IOA’s vision test establishes a baseline for upcoming vibration and acoustic tests. Engineers will compare measurements from before and after those tests to make sure the optics will withstand the strong shaking and intense sound waves during launch.After that, the IOA will have a final “eye” exam – this time in vacuum conditions at its cold operational temperature. Materials expand and contract with temperature shifts, and Roman’s optics will go from room temperature conditions on Earth to a frigid 9 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 13 degrees Celsius) in space.“Our prediction of the small change we expect to see going from ambient to these colder temperatures is very important,” Abel said. The test will also measure the IOA’s performance in extremely low pressure to assess how it will operate in the vacuum of space.“The joint team from L3Harris and NASA has fully achieved the goals of the test,” said Scott Smith, Roman telescope manager at Goddard. “The technicians and engineers have executed a successful optical test with precision and excellence while maintaining their commitments to schedule.”The entire Optical Telescope Assembly, of which the IOA is a core component, is expected to be complete and delivered to Goddard this fall.
At JPL on May 17, members of the Roman Coronagraph Instrument team use a crane to lift the top portion of the shipping container that the instrument was stored in for its journey to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
NASA’s Roman Space Telescope’s ‘Eyes’ Pass First Vision Testhttps://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ota-harris-240402-004-copyrevb.jpgQuoteEngineers at L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York, have combined all 10 mirrors for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Preliminary tests show the newly aligned optics, collectively called the IOA (Imaging Optics Assembly), will direct light into Roman’s science instruments extremely precisely. This will yield crisp images of space once the observatory launches.“This is the pre-launch first light, our first time seeing through the entire telescope,” said Joshua Abel, the lead systems engineer for the Roman Space Optical Telescope Assembly at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “We’re excited to enter the next phase of the project!”Each of Roman’s mirrors had passed individual tests, but this was the first time they were assessed together. Engineers had to make sure light would move through all of the optics in a tightly controlled way, or else the telescope’s images would appear blurred.“The telescope’s optics are crucial for all of Roman’s future observations,” said Bente Eegholm, an optical engineer working on Roman’s Optical Telescope Assembly at Goddard. “In addition to the large primary mirror and the secondary mirror, eight relay mirrors serve Roman’s two science instruments. All 10 telescope mirrors need to be aligned to well within the width of a human hair in order to optimize the telescope’s imaging quality such that Roman can fully achieve its science goals.”The meticulous month-long alignment process involved a series of iterations to bring test images into ever-sharper focus. Once the mirrors were all properly situated, technicians permanently locked them in place. Three of the mirrors will still be movable in space thanks to actuators – mechanisms that control the mirrors’ positions – which will allow astronomers to fine-tune the alignment even further once Roman begins its observations.The IOA’s vision test establishes a baseline for upcoming vibration and acoustic tests. Engineers will compare measurements from before and after those tests to make sure the optics will withstand the strong shaking and intense sound waves during launch.After that, the IOA will have a final “eye” exam – this time in vacuum conditions at its cold operational temperature. Materials expand and contract with temperature shifts, and Roman’s optics will go from room temperature conditions on Earth to a frigid 9 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 13 degrees Celsius) in space.“Our prediction of the small change we expect to see going from ambient to these colder temperatures is very important,” Abel said. The test will also measure the IOA’s performance in extremely low pressure to assess how it will operate in the vacuum of space.“The joint team from L3Harris and NASA has fully achieved the goals of the test,” said Scott Smith, Roman telescope manager at Goddard. “The technicians and engineers have executed a successful optical test with precision and excellence while maintaining their commitments to schedule.”The entire Optical Telescope Assembly, of which the IOA is a core component, is expected to be complete and delivered to Goddard this fall.[zubenelgenubi: Attach files. Do not embed them.]
Quote from: StraumliBlight on 04/17/2024 02:32 pmNASA’s Roman Space Telescope’s ‘Eyes’ Pass First Vision TestHuh aren’t the mirrors still classified, surprised we get an image?
NASA’s Roman Space Telescope’s ‘Eyes’ Pass First Vision Test
Quote from: Robotbeat on 07/21/2022 03:18 amI’m skeptical. Probably that is being misunderstood. SpaceX now offers the extended fairing as a pre-developed option since they’re already developing it for another payload(a).Hubble is 13.2 meters long and 4.2 meters wide, so it could just about fit in the standard Falcon fairing. And it's clear the new optical system is much shorter than Hubble's (compare the images above to the Hubble design, recalling the mirrors are the same size). That should save a few meters, and so the Roman observatory could reasonably fit.
The Roman project continues to operate within its replanned cost and schedule baselines, which were updated in June 2021. The replan set a life-cycle cost of $4.3 billion and a launch readiness date of May 2027. The project is still working to an earlier launch readiness date of October 2026, which was the original baseline date prior to the replan
The project completed a manufacturing readiness review for the flight unit of the Launch Loads Vibration IsolationSystem, but the project is tracking a performance risk. The Launch Loads Vibration Isolation System protects the telescope from launch vibrations and spacecraft generated disturbances while on-orbit. This system’s flight isolators are currently a critical path item in the integration and test schedule. If they do not perform as expected, it could result in a schedule delay and increased costs due design changes.
And, of course, the astrophysics community is looking forward to its launch, which is expected not later than May 2027, so we’re in the final stretches of the development phase of this mission. We’re actually about to start Phase D, which is everything related to the assembly, the integration, and testing of the observatory before its launch in 2027.
The spacecraft bus that will deliver NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to its orbit and enable it to function once there is now complete after years of construction, installation, and testing.Now that the spacecraft is assembled, engineers will begin working to integrate the observatory’s other major components, including the science instruments and the telescope itself.“They call it a spacecraft bus for a reason — it gets the telescope to where it needs to be in space,” said Jackie Townsend, the Roman deputy project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “But it’s really more like an RV because it has a whole assortment of functions that enable Roman to accomplish its scientific goals while out there too.”Those goals include surveying wide swaths of the universe to study things like: dark energy, a mysterious cosmic pressure thought to accelerate the universe’s expansion; dark matter, invisible matter seen only via its gravitational influence; and exoplanets, worlds beyond our solar system.The mission’s science wouldn’t be possible without a spacecraft to transport the telescope, point the observatory toward different cosmic targets, provide power, communicate with Earth, control and store instrument data, and regulate Roman’s temperature. Nearly 50 miles of electrical cabling are laced throughout the assembly to enable different parts of the observatory to communicate with each other.The spacecraft will also deploy several major elements that will be stowed for launch, including the solar panels, deployable aperture cover, lower instrument Sun shade, and high-gain antenna. It’s also responsible for collecting and beaming down data, which is no small task for a space observatory that will survey the cosmos like Roman will.“Roman will send back 1.4 terabytes of data per day, compared to about 50 to 60 gigabytes from the James Webb Space Telescope and three gigabytes from the Hubble Space Telescope,” said Jason Hylan, the Roman observatory manager at NASA Goddard. “Webb’s daily downlink is roughly comparable to 13 hours of YouTube video at the highest quality while Roman’s would amount to about 2 weeks.”A Goddard Grand SlamThis milestone is the culmination of eight years of spacecraft design work, building, and testing by hundreds of people at Goddard.“Goddard employees were the brains, designers, and executors. And they worked with vendors who supplied all the right parts,” Townsend said. “We leaned on generations of expertise in the spacecraft arena to work around cost and schedule challenges that arose from supply chain issues and the pandemic.”One time- and money-saving technique the team came up with was building a spacecraft mockup, called the structural verification unit. That allowed them to do two things at once: complete strength testing on the mockup, designed specifically for that purpose, while also assembling the actual spacecraft.The spacecraft’s clever layout also allowed the team to adapt to changing schedules. It’s designed to be modular, “more like Trivial Pursuit pie pieces than a nesting egg, where interior components are buried inside,” Townsend said. “That’s been a game-changer because you can’t always count on things arriving in the order you planned or working perfectly right away with no tweaks.” It also increased efficiency because people could work on different portions of the bus at the same time without interfering with each other.The slightly asymmetrical and hexagonal spacecraft bus is about 13 feet (4 meters) wide by 6.5 feet (2 meters) tall and weighs in at 8,400 pounds (3,800 kilograms).One reason it doesn’t weigh more is that some components have been partially hollowed out. If you could peel back some of the spacecraft’s panels, you’d find superthin metallic honeycomb sandwiched between two slim layers of metal. And many of the components, such as the antenna dish, are made of strong yet lightweight composite materials.When the spacecraft bus was fully assembled, engineers conducted a comprehensive performance test. Prior to this, each component had been tested individually, but just like with a sports team, the whole unit has to perform well together.“The spacecraft passed the test, and now we’re getting ready to install the payload –– Roman’s instruments and the telescope itself,” said Missie Vess, a spacecraft systems engineer for Roman at NASA Goddard. “Next year, we’ll test these systems together and begin integrating the final components of the observatory, including the deployable aperture cover, outer barrel assembly, and solar panels. Then we’ll finally have ourselves a complete observatory, on track for launch by May 2027.”
Oct 16, 2024Want to see this in even more detail? Watch the 57-minute version here: • Roman Space Telescope: Full Outer Bar... The Outer Barrel Assembly, or OBA, is a key part of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. It is made of two main parts: the shell section, a baffled carbon-fiber tube that surrounds the telescope to keep the temperature stable and project it from stray light; and the support struts, which extend past the instruments to connect the shell section to the rear spacecraft bus where all the support systems are located. Although the OBA is one of the less complicated parts of the overall observatory, the testing process for it is anything but simple. This time-lapse covers one tiny part of the intricate dance that all of Roman’s systems have been working their way through on their path to joining together as the complete observatory.Just one of the many tests the OBA undergoes is static load testing in NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s 120-foot-diameter centrifuge. The two parts of the OBA are separated and tested individually, with aluminum weights called mass simulators, or mass sims for short, taking the place of other parts of the spacecraft and creating the correct center of gravity. Nearly 100 sensors are connected throughout the structure to carefully measure the strain on each part of it. The OBA is attached to a metal plate which can tip and rotate hydraulically to change the position of the test hardware. These changes in position ensure that every component of the hardware experiences the full launch load.The struts are tested in six different orientations first. Tilting for the sixth, and final test, is where this time-lapse begins. After the final test, the multi-day process of removing the struts and replacing them with the shell section begins. All of the mass sims and sensors need to come off of the struts, while, at the same time, different mass sims are added to the shell section, which is in a separate clean room. The shell section is also wrapped in protective Kapton film to reduce contamination in the non-clean environment of the centrifuge.The struts are topped with a metal interface ring that connects them and gives structural stability. This same ring is needed to connect the shell section to the adjustable test platform and so it must be transferred from the struts to the shell. The simplest way to do this is to connect the two pieces in, with the interface ring between them, in an adjoining “high-bay” with plenty of vertical room and floor space for the two pieces to sit side-by-side on dollies. The complete OBA is then hand-pushed into the centrifuge, to a different crane, and the shell section is lifted off with the interface ring now attached only to it. The struts are pushed out and taken to the next testing step.The OBA is attached to the centrifuge test platform and has 96 sensors carefully connected at key locations. Like the struts, it will have six spins of different intensities and positions, culminating in a final spin at 18.4 rpm and 7.1 Gs. At that speed, the wind around the edges of the centrifuge travels at 80 miles per hour, and at over 130 mph along the ground.Music credit: "Concave Hexagon" from the album Geometric Shapes. Written and produced by Lars Leonhard.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterProducer: Scott Wiessinger (eMITS)Videographers: Scott Wiessinger (eMITS) Chris Gunn (InuTeq, LLC) Sophia Roberts (eMITS) Jolearra Tshiteya (ASRC Federal)Public affairs officer: Claire Andreoli (NASA/GSFC)Editor: Scott Wiessinger (eMITS)
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has successfully integrated the mission’s telescope and two instruments onto the instrument carrier, marking the completion of the Roman payload. Now the team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will begin joining the payload to the spacecraft.“We’re in the middle of an exciting stage of mission preparation,” said Jody Dawson, a Roman systems engineer at NASA Goddard. “All the components are now here at Goddard, and they’re coming together in quick succession. We expect to integrate the telescope and instruments with the spacecraft before the year is up.”Engineers first integrated the Coronagraph Instrument, a technology demonstration designed to image exoplanets — worlds outside our solar system — by using a complex suite of masks and active mirrors to obscure the glare of the planets’ host stars.Then the team integrated the Optical Telescope Assembly, 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’s 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’s James Webb Space Telescope and 100 times more than the agency’s Hubble Space Telescope. This will allow scientists to make measurements at levels of precision that can answer important questions about dark energy, dark matter, and worlds beyond our solar system.With those components in place, the team then added Roman’s primary instrument. Called the Wide Field Instrument, this 300-megapixel infrared camera will give Roman a deep, panoramic view of the universe. Through the Wide Field Instrument’s surveys, scientists will be able to explore distant exoplanets, stars, galaxies, black holes, dark energy, dark matter, and more. Thanks to this instrument and the observatory’s 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.“It would be quicker to list the astronomy topics Roman won’t be able to address than those it will,” said Julie McEnery, the Roman senior project scientist at NASA Goddard. “We’ve never had a tool like this before. Roman will revolutionize the way we do astronomy.”The telescope and instruments were mounted to Roman’s 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, which will deliver the observatory to its orbit and enable it to function once there.At the same time, the mission’s deployable aperture cover — a visor that will shield the telescope from unwanted light — is being joined to the outer barrel assembly, which serves as the telescope’s exoskeleton.“We’ve had an incredible year, and we’re looking forward to another one!” said Bear Witherspoon, a Roman systems engineer at NASA Goddard. “While the payload and spacecraft undergo a smattering of testing together, the team will work toward integrating the solar panels onto the outer barrel assembly.”That keeps the observatory on track for completion by fall 2026 and launch no later than May 2027.
Technicians have successfully integrated NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s payload – the telescope, instrument carrier, and two instruments – to the spacecraft that will deliver the observatory to its place in space and enable it to function while there.“With this incredible milestone, Roman remains on track for launch, and we’re a big step closer to unveiling the cosmos as never before,” said Mark Clampin, acting deputy associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “It’s been fantastic to watch the team’s progress throughout the integration phase. I look forward to Roman’s transformative observations.”
The newly joined space hardware will now undergo extensive testing. The first test will ensure each major element operates as designed when integrated with the rest of the observatory and establish the hardware’s combined performance. Then environmental tests will subject the payload to the electromagnetic, vibration, and thermal vacuum environments it will experience during launch and on-orbit operations. These tests will ensure the hardware and the launch vehicle will not interfere with each other when operating, verify the communications antennas won’t create electromagnetic interference with other observatory hardware, shake the assembly to make sure it will survive extreme vibration during launch, assess its performance across its expected range of operating temperatures, and make sure the instruments and mirrors are properly optically aligned.Meanwhile, Roman’s deployable aperture cover will be integrated with the outer barrel assembly, and then the solar panels will be added before spring. Then the structure will be joined to the payload and spacecraft this fall.The Roman mission remains on track for completion by fall 2026 and launch no later than May 2027.
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has successfully integrated the mission’s deployable aperture cover — a visor-like sunshade that will help prevent unwanted light from entering the telescope — to the outer barrel assembly, another structure designed to shield the telescope from stray light in addition to keeping it at a stable temperature.
“It’s been incredible to see these major components go from computer models to building and now integrating them,” said Sheri Thorn, an aerospace engineer working on Roman’s sunshade at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Since it’s all coming together at Goddard, we get a front row seat to the process. We’ve seen it mature, kind of like watching a child grow up, and it’s a really gratifying experience.”The sunshade functions like a heavy-duty version of blackout curtains you might use to keep your room extra dark. It will make Roman more sensitive to faint light from across the universe, helping astronomers see dimmer and farther objects. Made of two layers of reinforced thermal blankets, the sunshade is designed to remain folded during launch and deploy after Roman is in space. Three booms will spring upward when triggered electronically, raising the sunshade like a page in a pop-up book.
The sunshade blanket has an inner and outer layer separated by about an inch, much like a double-paned window. “We’re prepared for micrometeoroid impacts that could occur in space, so the blanket is heavily fortified,” said Brian Simpson, Roman’s deployable aperture cover lead at NASA Goddard. “One layer is even reinforced with Kevlar, the same thing that lines bulletproof vests. By placing some space in between the layers we reduce the risk that light would leak in, because it’s unlikely that the light would pass through both layers at the exact same points where the holes were.” Over the course of a few hours, technicians meticulously joined the sunshade to the outer barrel assembly — both Goddard-designed components — in the largest clean room at NASA Goddard. The outer barrel assembly will help keep the telescope at a stable temperature and, like the sunshade, help shield the telescope from stray light and micrometeoroid impacts. It’s fitted with heaters to help ensure the telescope’s mirrors won’t experience wide temperature swings, which make materials expand and contract. “Roman is made up of a lot of separate components that come together after years of design and fabrication,” said Laurence Madison, a mechanical engineer at NASA Goddard. “The deployable aperture cover and outer barrel assembly were built at the same time, and up until the integration the two teams mainly used reference drawings to make sure everything would fit together as they should. So the successful integration was both a proud moment and a relief!”
Both the sunshade and outer barrel assembly have been extensively tested individually, but now that they’re connected engineers are assessing them again. Following the integration, the team tested the sunshade deployment. “Since the sunshade was designed to deploy in space, the system isn’t actually strong enough to deploy itself in Earth’s gravity,” said Matthew Neuman, a mechanical engineer working on Roman’s sunshade at NASA Goddard. “So we used a gravity negation system to offset its weight and verified that everything works as expected.” Next, the components will undergo thermal vacuum testing together to ensure they will function as planned in the temperature and pressure environment of space. Then they’ll move to a shake test to assess their performance during the extreme vibrations they’ll experience during launch. Technicians will join Roman’s solar panels to the outer barrel assembly and sunshade this spring, and then integrate them with the rest of the observatory by the end of the year. The mission has now passed a milestone called Key Decision Point-D, marking the official transition from the fabrication stage that culminated in the delivery of major components to the phase involving assembly, integration, testing, and launch. The Roman observatory remains on track for completion by fall 2026 and launch no later than May 2027.
One half of NASA’s nearly complete Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope just passed a lengthy test to ensure it will function properly in the space environment.“This milestone tees us up to attach the flight solar array sun shield to the outer barrel assembly, and deployable aperture cover, which we’ll begin this month,” said Jack Marshall, who leads integration and testing for these elements at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Then we’ll complete remaining environmental tests for the flight assembly before moving on to connect Roman’s two major assemblies and run the full observatory through testing, and then we’ll be ready to launch!”Prior to this thermal testing, technicians integrated Roman’s deployable aperture cover, a visor-like sunshade, to the outer barrel assembly, which will house the telescope and instruments, in January, then added test solar panels in March. They moved this whole structure into the Space Environment Simulator test chamber at NASA Goddard in April.There, it was subjected to the hot and cold temperatures it will experience in space. Next, technicians will join Roman’s flight solar panels to the outer barrel assembly and sunshade. Then the structure will undergo a suite of assessments, including a shake test to ensure it can withstand the vibrations experienced during launch.Meanwhile, Roman’s other major portion — the spacecraft and integrated payload assembly, which consists of the telescope, instrument carrier, and two instruments — will undergo its own shake test, along with additional assessments. Technicians will install the lower instrument sun shade and put this half of the observatory through a thermal vacuum test in the Space Environment Simulator.“The test verifies the instruments will remain at stable operating temperatures even while the Sun bakes one side of the observatory and the other is exposed to freezing conditions — all in a vacuum, where heat doesn’t flow as readily as it does through air,” said Jeremy Perkins, an astrophysicist serving as Roman’s observatory integration and test scientist at NASA Goddard. Keeping the instrument temperatures stable ensures their readings will be precise and reliable.Technicians are on track to connect Roman’s two major parts in November, resulting in a complete observatory by the end of the year. Following final tests, Roman is expected to ship 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 launch as early as fall 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.
The core portion of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has successfully completed vibration testing, ensuring it will withstand the extreme shaking experienced during launch. Passing this key milestone brings Roman one step closer to helping answer essential questions about the role of dark energy and other cosmic mysteries.“The test could be considered as powerful as a pretty severe earthquake, but there are key differences,” said Cory Powell, the Roman lead structural analyst at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Unlike an earthquake, we sweep through our frequencies one at a time, starting with very low-level amplitudes and gradually increasing them while we check everything along the way. It’s a very complicated process that takes extraordinary effort to do safely and efficiently.”The team simulated launch conditions as closely as possible. “We performed the test in a flight-powered configuration and filled the propulsion tanks with approximately 295 gallons of deionized water to simulate the propellent loading on the spacecraft during launch,” said Joel Proebstle, who led this test, at NASA Goddard. This is part of a series of tests that ratchet up to 125 percent of the forces the observatory will experience.This milestone is the latest in a period of intensive testing for the nearly complete Roman Space Telescope, with many major parts coming together and running through assessments in rapid succession. Roman currently consists of two major assemblies: the inner, core portion (telescope, instrument carrier, two instruments, and spacecraft) and the outer portion (outer barrel assembly, solar array sun shield, and deployable aperture cover).Now, having completed vibration testing, the core portion will return to the large clean room at Goddard for post-test inspections. They’ll confirm that everything remains properly aligned and the high-gain antenna can deploy. The next major assessment for the core portion will involve additional tests of the electronics, followed by a thermal vacuum test to ensure the system will operate as planned in the harsh space environment.In the meantime, Goddard technicians are also working on Roman’s outer portion. They installed the test solar array sun shield, and this segment then underwent its own thermal vacuum test, verifying it will control temperatures properly in the vacuum of space. Now, technicians are installing the flight solar panels to this outer part of the observatory.
• Hardware performing at or above requirements. • Spacecraft Integrated Payload Assembly (“SCIPA”) completed vibration testing last week: • mirror assembly, • instrument carrier, • two science instruments: • the Wide Field Instrument Coronagraph, and the • hexagonal spacecraft bus, which houses electronics and the propulsion system. • Outer barrel: solar array sun shield thermal-vac test. • SCIPA -> electromagnetic interference testing this week at Goddard. • Observatory assembly scheduled in November. • Shipping to Cape Canaveral in July. • On schedule for launch at end of 2026. For now…
GAO: NASA Assessments of Major ProjectsJuly 2025[...]The project was able to reduce the mass of the Roman observatory from 11,000 kg to 10,150 kg, which will enable SpaceX boosters to return to the launch site. Based on this, project officials report that the Launch Services Program received a credit from SpaceX, which will result in cost savings.[...]
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.[...]
