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Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (shortened as the Roman Space Telescope, Roman, or RST) is a NASA infrared space telescope in development and scheduled to launch to a Sun–Earth L2 orbit by May 2027. It is named after former NASA Chief of Astronomy Nancy Grace Roman.
The Roman Space Telescope is based on an existing 2.4 m (7.9 ft) wide field of view primary mirror and will carry two scientific instruments. The Wide-Field Instrument (WFI) is a 300.8-megapixel multi-band visible and near-infrared camera, providing a sharpness of images comparable to that achieved by the Hubble Space Telescope over a 0.28 square degree field of view, 100 times larger than imaging cameras on the Hubble. The Coronagraph Instrument (CGI) is a high-contrast, small field of view camera and spectrometer covering visible and near-infrared wavelengths using novel starlight-suppression technology.
Stated objectives include a search for extra-solar planets using gravitational microlensing, along with probing the chronology of the universe and growth of cosmic structure, with the end goal of measuring the effects of dark energy, the consistency of general relativity, and the curvature of spacetime.
Roman was recommended in 2010 by the United States National Research Council Decadal Survey committee as the top priority for the next decade of astronomy. On 17 February 2016, it was approved for development and launch. On 20 May 2020, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced that the mission would be named the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in recognition of former NASA Chief of Astronomy Nancy Grace Roman's role in the field of astronomy. As of May 2024[update], Roman is scheduled to be launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket under a contract specifying readiness by October 2026 supporting a NASA launch commitment of May 2027.
The design of the Roman Space Telescope shares a heritage with various proposed designs for the Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM) between NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE).
The original design, called WFIRST Design Reference Mission 1, was studied in 2011–2012, featuring a 1.3 m (4.3 ft) diameter unobstructed three-mirror anastigmat telescope. It contained a single instrument, a visible to near-infrared imager/slitless prism spectrometer.
In 2012, another possibility emerged: NASA could use a second-hand National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) telescope made by Harris Corporation to accomplish a mission like the one planned for WFIRST. NRO offered to donate two telescopes, the same size as the Hubble Space Telescope but with a shorter focal length and hence a wider field of view. This provided important political momentum to the project, even though the telescope represents only a modest fraction of the cost of the mission and the boundary conditions from the NRO design may push the total cost over that of a fresh design. This mission concept, called WFIRST-AFTA (Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets), was matured by a scientific and technical team; this mission is now the only present NASA plan for the use of the NRO telescopes. The Roman baseline design includes a coronagraph to enable the direct imaging of exoplanets.
Several implementations of WFIRST/Roman were studied. These included the Joint Dark Energy Mission-Omega configuration, an Interim Design Reference Mission featuring a 1.3 m (4.3 ft) telescope, Design Reference Mission 1 with a 1.3 m telescope, Design Reference Mission 2 with a 1.1 m (3.6 ft) telescope, and several iterations of the AFTA 2.4 m (7.9 ft) configuration.
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Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (shortened as the Roman Space Telescope, Roman, or RST) is a NASA infrared space telescope in development and scheduled to launch to a Sun–Earth L2 orbit by May 2027. It is named after former NASA Chief of Astronomy Nancy Grace Roman.
The Roman Space Telescope is based on an existing 2.4 m (7.9 ft) wide field of view primary mirror and will carry two scientific instruments. The Wide-Field Instrument (WFI) is a 300.8-megapixel multi-band visible and near-infrared camera, providing a sharpness of images comparable to that achieved by the Hubble Space Telescope over a 0.28 square degree field of view, 100 times larger than imaging cameras on the Hubble. The Coronagraph Instrument (CGI) is a high-contrast, small field of view camera and spectrometer covering visible and near-infrared wavelengths using novel starlight-suppression technology.
Stated objectives include a search for extra-solar planets using gravitational microlensing, along with probing the chronology of the universe and growth of cosmic structure, with the end goal of measuring the effects of dark energy, the consistency of general relativity, and the curvature of spacetime.
Roman was recommended in 2010 by the United States National Research Council Decadal Survey committee as the top priority for the next decade of astronomy. On 17 February 2016, it was approved for development and launch. On 20 May 2020, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced that the mission would be named the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in recognition of former NASA Chief of Astronomy Nancy Grace Roman's role in the field of astronomy. As of May 2024[update], Roman is scheduled to be launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket under a contract specifying readiness by October 2026 supporting a NASA launch commitment of May 2027.
The design of the Roman Space Telescope shares a heritage with various proposed designs for the Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM) between NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE).
The original design, called WFIRST Design Reference Mission 1, was studied in 2011–2012, featuring a 1.3 m (4.3 ft) diameter unobstructed three-mirror anastigmat telescope. It contained a single instrument, a visible to near-infrared imager/slitless prism spectrometer.
In 2012, another possibility emerged: NASA could use a second-hand National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) telescope made by Harris Corporation to accomplish a mission like the one planned for WFIRST. NRO offered to donate two telescopes, the same size as the Hubble Space Telescope but with a shorter focal length and hence a wider field of view. This provided important political momentum to the project, even though the telescope represents only a modest fraction of the cost of the mission and the boundary conditions from the NRO design may push the total cost over that of a fresh design. This mission concept, called WFIRST-AFTA (Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets), was matured by a scientific and technical team; this mission is now the only present NASA plan for the use of the NRO telescopes. The Roman baseline design includes a coronagraph to enable the direct imaging of exoplanets.
Several implementations of WFIRST/Roman were studied. These included the Joint Dark Energy Mission-Omega configuration, an Interim Design Reference Mission featuring a 1.3 m (4.3 ft) telescope, Design Reference Mission 1 with a 1.3 m telescope, Design Reference Mission 2 with a 1.1 m (3.6 ft) telescope, and several iterations of the AFTA 2.4 m (7.9 ft) configuration.
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