NASA’s Roman Space Telescope’s ‘Eyes’ Pass First Vision Test

This photo shows the entire optics system for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope . It consists of 10 mirrors, including the 7.9-foot primary mirror seen at the base in this image, and is called the IOA . Engineers recently integrated and tested the IOA at L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York. the newly aligned optics, collectively called the IOA , will direct light into Roman’s science instruments extremely precisely.

Each of Roman’s mirrors had passed individual tests, but this was the first time they were assessed together. Engineers had to make sure light would move through all of the optics in a tightly controlled way, or else the telescope’s images would appear blurred. An optical technician lays on a diving board suspended between NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s primary and secondary mirrors. The photo is a projected reflection through the telescope’s optical path. The technician shines a beam of light through the optical system toward the future location of the Wide Field Instrument, showing how light from cosmic sources will travel through the telescope once the mission launches.

After that, the IOA will have a final “eye” exam – this time in vacuum conditions at its cold operational temperature. Materials expand and contract with temperature shifts, and Roman’s optics will go from room temperature conditions on Earth to a frigid 9 degrees Fahrenheit in space.

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