History of the Roman Mission

Aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope successfully launched from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Roman's Final Solar Panel and Deployable Aperture Cover (DAC) Deployments. These final checks demonstrate that the solar panels and DAC operate flawlessly, ensuring the observatory is ready for the demands of spaceflight.

Preparations are underway for launch at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  To prepare for Roman’s arrival, the program oversaw several upgrades to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. This included replacing its air-shower system, a small entry chamber that blasts high-velocity HEPA-filtered air onto people and equipment before they enter a clean room.

The Roman team recently blasted the observatory with extreme sound, shook it, and listened to its electronic hum. Roman passed all three assessments, which aimed to confirm that the observatory will withstand launch conditions and function as expected in space.

NASA completes the telescope construction. Technicians joined the inner and outer portions of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in the largest clean room at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

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. 

Technicians have successfully installed two sunshields onto the telescope’s inner segment. Along with the observatory’s Solar Array Sun Shield and Deployable Aperture Cover, the panels  will play a critical role in keeping Roman’s instruments cool and stable as the mission explores the infrared universe.

The Roman team installs the observatory’s solar panels. 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.

The core portion of the Roman Space Telescope has successfully completed vibration testing, ensuring it will withstand the extreme shaking experienced during launch.

Roman  just passed a lengthy thermal 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.

The Roman 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.

Technicians have successfully integrated the 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.

The team has successfully integrated the mission’s telescope and two instruments onto the instrument carrier, marking the completion of the Roman payload. Next the team will begin joining the payload to the spacecraft.

The mission has now received its final major delivery: the Optical Telescope Assembly, which includes a primary mirror, nine additional mirrors, and supporting structures and electronics.

The Roman team has successfully completed integration of the Roman Coronagraph Instrument onto Roman’s Instrument Carrier, a piece of infrastructure that will hold the mission’s instruments, which will be integrated onto the larger spacecraft at a later date. 

Roman's Solar Array Sun Shield has successfully completed recent tests, signaling that the assembly is on track to be completed on schedule.

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope’s ‘Eyes’ Pass First Vision Test. Engineers have combined all 10 mirrors for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

A collection of some of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope hardware milestones from the fall of 2023.

Primary Instrument for NASA’s Roman Completed for the Wide Field Instrument (WFI), this state-of-the-art tool will enable astronomers to explore the cosmos from the outskirts of our solar system to the edge of the observable universe.

A collection of some of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope hardware milestones from the summer of 2023.

The heart of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was completed and 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.

Roman has successfully passed its critical design review, signaling that all design and developmental engineering work is now complete. “After seeing our extensive hardware testing and sophisticated modeling, an independent review panel has confirmed that the observatory we have designed will work,” said Julie McEnery, the Roman Space Telescope senior project scientist.

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.

Roman’s ground system, successfully completed its preliminary design review. "This is an exciting milestone for the mission,” said Ken Carpenter, the Roman ground system project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “We are on track to complete the data system in time for launch, and we look forward to the ground-breaking science it will enable." 

NASA is naming its next-generation space telescope currently under development, the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), in honor of Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first chief astronomer, who paved the way for space telescopes focused on the broader universe.

The telescope for WFIRST has successfully passed its preliminary design review, a major milestone for the mission. This means the telescope has met the performance, schedule, and budget requirements to advance to the next stage of development, where the team will finalize its design.

NASA has awarded a contract to Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation, Boulder, Colorado, for the primary instrument components for the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST).

NASA Announces Independent Review Panel Members for Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope. The panel will take a close look at WFIRST — now in phase A — ensuring its scope and cost at this early stage in the life cycle of the mission remain aligned.

Milestone # 7 for the WFIRST Coronagraph Technology Program was held.

WFIRST Formulation: "WFIRST has the potential to open our eyes to the wonders of the universe, much the same way Hubble has," said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate at Headquarters in Washington.

NASA announced on December 17, 2015 the selection of the following Formulation Science Investigation Teams for the WFIRST mission. These teams will work for 5 years with the NASA and Project teams on science requirements, mission design and scientific performance predictions for the mission.

Two WFIRST-AFTA Instruments announced. Wide-Field Instrument and Coronograph

The Administrator directed the Science Mission Directorate to continue pre-formulation activities for the WFIRST mission. The Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets (AFTA) Science definition team (SDT) study office begin developing telescope design.

Wide Field Infrared Space Telescope (WFIRST) was the top-ranked priority for a large space mission in the New Worlds/New Horizons (NWNH) report of the 2010 National Academy of Sciences Decadal Survey for Astronomy