3.09.2026

NASA Roman’s Planet Imager Has Powered On

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 at 8:22 a.m. on Sept. 1.

The Roman Coronagraph is a system of optics, masks, self-flexing mirrors, and sensors designed to demonstrate the most advanced technologies ever flown in space for directly imaging planets around other stars. It will block the glare from stars and make it possible for scientists to see the faint reflected light from planets in orbit around them.

Using the coronagraph, scientists will photograph worlds and dusty disks in visible light to help us see giant planets that are older, colder, and in closer orbits than the hot, young super-Jupiters direct imaging has mainly revealed so far. The Roman coronagraph team will conduct a series of pre-planned observations for a total of three months spread across the mission’s first year-and-a-half of operations.

In addition to direct imaging, Roman will also find planets via the microlensing and transitmethods.

Quelle: NASA

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NASA Roman Space Telescope’s Antenna, ‘Visor’ Deployed

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 fluctuations. Its large size will help Roman send radio signals across a million miles of intervening space to Earth.

This artist’s concept animation shows the high-gain antenna for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope deploying in space. This antenna will downlink the highest data volume of any NASA astrophysics mission so far.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab

At one frequency, the dual-band antenna will receive commands and send back information about the spacecraft’s health and location. It will use another frequency to transmit a deluge of data at up to 500 megabits per second to ground stations in New Mexico, Australia, and Japan. These locations are spread out so the Roman team will consistently be able to communicate with the spacecraft. The antenna deployment lasted about 4 minutes and concluded at 2:03 p.m. EDT on Aug. 31.

In this artist’s concept animation, the deployable aperture cover for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope deploys. This large sunshade is designed to keep unwanted light out of the telescope.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab

The deployable aperture cover, which is a large sunshade designed to keep unwanted light out of the telescope, was released next. It deployed via three booms that were triggered electronically to spring upward. It lasted about 8 minutes and was successfully completed at 6:05 a.m. EDT on Sept. 1.

Roman’s next major milestone is the Coronagraph Instrument activation. In a couple of weeks, the Wide Field Instrument will power on. Both instruments will run through a series of calibrations and tests throughout the rest of Roman’s three-month commissioning period. NASA anticipates releasing Roman’s first images by early 2027.

Quelle: NASA