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The primary instrument for NASA\u2019s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a sophisticated camera that will survey the cosmos from the outskirts of our solar system all the way out to the edge of the observable universe. Called the Wide Field Instrument, it was recently delivered to the agency\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.<\/p>\n
The camera\u2019s large field of view, sharp resolution, and sensitivity from visible to near-infrared wavelengths will give Roman a deep, panoramic view of the universe. Scanning much larger portions of the sky than astronomers can with NASA\u2019s Hubble or James Webb space telescopes will open new avenues of cosmic exploration. Roman is designed to study dark energy (a mysterious cosmic pressure thought to accelerate the universe\u2019s expansion), dark matter (invisible matter seen only via its gravitational influence), and exoplanets (worlds beyond our solar system).<\/p>\n
\u201cThis instrument will turn signals from space into a new understanding of how our universe works,\u201d said Julie McEnery, the Roman senior project scientist at Goddard. \u201cTo achieve its main goals, the mission will precisely measure hundreds of millions of galaxies. That\u2019s quite a dataset for all kinds of researchers to pull from, so there will be a flood of results on a vast array of science.\u201d<\/p>\n
About 1,000 people contributed to the Wide Field Instrument\u2019s development, from the initial design phase to assembling it from around a million individual components. The WFI\u2019s design was a collaborative effort between Goddard and BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado.\u00a0 Teledyne Imaging Sensors, Hawaii Aerospace Corporation, Applied Aerospace Structures Corporation, Northrop Grumman, Honeybee Robotics, CDA Intercorp, Alluxa, and JenOptik provided critical components. Those parts and many more, made by other vendors, were delivered to Goddard and BAE Systems, where they were assembled and tested prior to the instrument\u2019s delivery to Goddard this month.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am so happy to be delivering this amazing instrument,\u201d said Mary Walker, Roman\u2019s Wide Field Instrument manager at Goddard. \u201cAll the years of hard work and the team\u2019s dedication have brought us to this exciting moment.\u201d<\/p>\n \n