The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope blog is NASA's hub for the mission's launch updates, where all are invited for behind-the-scenes looks on Roman's road to launch and beyond. This flagship mission’s vast, deep surveys will help astronomers explore dark matter, dark energy, exoplanets, and almost anything from our own solar system to galaxies at the edge of the observable universe. Follow along to join in on the excitement!
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope mission has now entered the science commissioning phase, having successfully completed a comprehensive checkout and refinement of the observatory and primary instrument performance. “We’ve established that the observatory is fully functional,” said Julie McEnery, Roman’s senior project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The telescope […]
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team completed a marathon of activities to fine-tune the observatory’s vision and prepare the primary instrument for routine use. “All of Roman’s sweeping surveys will rely on the Wide Field Instrument,” said Dave Hickey, a Wide Field Instrument systems engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. […]
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s fine-guidance system, which allows the observatory to lock very steadily onto its targets during observations, passed a spate of tests from Sept. 15 to 21. Then on Sept. 22, the mission’s Coronagraph Instrument opened its eyes to cosmic light for the very first time. The team assigned a small […]
NASA has now confirmed all ground stations supporting the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope are ready to receive the mission’s high volume of data once science operations begin by early 2027. Observing the far reaches of the cosmos wouldn’t be possible without a network of ground stations strategically located around the world serving as […]
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has successfully activated the Wide Field Instrument, a 300-megapixel infrared camera that will allow scientists to explore wide swaths of the cosmos very quickly without sacrificing exquisite detail. Roman’s planet imager — the Coronagraph Instrument — also stretched its digital, electronic, and mechanical “limbs” as part of an […]
The results are in: NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s very accurate first mid-course correction, along with other fuel savings, are expected to more than double the mission’s potential operational lifetime. “As a result of exquisite planning by our orbital dynamics team, brilliant execution by the operations team, and a precise launch from SpaceX, Roman […]
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has successfully activated the mission’s Coronagraph Instrument, which will block starlight to view planets and dusty disks around nearby stars. Now the instrument will undergo a monthslong series of calibrations and tests prior to beginning full science operations. The coronagraph power-on began at 7:27 a.m. EDT and completed […]
Roman’s antenna and visor-like sunshade have successfully deployed. Roman will downlink the highest data volume of any NASA astrophysics mission so far via its high-gain antenna, which measures 5.6 feet wide yet only weighs 24 pounds. It’s made of a carbon composite material that weighs very little but will still withstand the spacecraft’s wide temperature […]
At 12:02 p.m. EDT, Roman began an approximately 3-minute mid-course correction burn to adjust its trajectory toward its final orbit. It’s the first of two planned orbit adjustments to keep Roman on course for the second Lagrange point, L2. The other, if needed, is planned for later this week, and Roman’s orbital insertion will take […]
