Articles from STScI newsletters and annual reports, featuring the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope are available below
The planning and preparation to enable and maximize the rich scientific return of Roman’s observing program have already begun. A number of diverse opportunities are available to the community to engage with the Roman Mission, both before launch and during operations.
STScI will participate in the 241st Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) at the Seattle Convention Center in Seattle, Washington, January 8 – 12. There will be technical presentations in instrument sessions, a wide variety of science presentations, workshops, splinter sessions, town halls, press releases, press conferences, NASA Hyperwall talks, and an exhibit booth.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's SOC at the STScI is responsible for many of the data processing steps for the WFI, providing a data-analysis platform for astronomers to explore the data and carry out basic data analysis, maintaining the mission data archive (for the WFI and coronagraph instruments) and serving all the mission data through MAST.
The Short-Term Scheduling Branch of the Science Operations & Engineering division at STScI develops and maintains science observation scheduling systems for Hubble, Webb, and Roman using modern software engineering practices.
A new cross-mission flux calibration working group was established at the Space Telescope Science Institute in November 2021.
The Space Telescope Science Institute will have staff members participating in the 240th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, CA, June 12–16, 2022.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope carries two scientific instruments, the Wide Field Imager (WFI) and a coronagraph demonstration instrument.
Last year, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope mission advanced to the implementation phase, known as Phase C. This year, flight hardware continues to be built as the mission approaches Critical Design Reviews in the summer and fall of 2021. Primary and secondary mirrors have been refigured, polished, and coated.
To significantly further advance our knowledge of galaxy formation and evolution in the future, we need to expand our observations to exploit wide-field capabilities beyond Hubble's relatively narrow sky coverage.
The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) will have staff members attending the Virtual 237th AAS, which will be held 11–15 January, 2021. An exhibit booth and several associated events highlighting the missions we support for the science community will be available throughout the week.
A survey of the astronomical community reveals extensive interest in using observations with the Roman Space Telescope for investigations across a wide range of scientific themes. Roman's science program will reflect diverse interests, and will benefit from community participation in designing the observations, with open access to all data. As the Science Operations Center, the Institute has a key role in ensuring community participation in defining the overall observing program and supporting the broad array of science investigations.
The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope, targeted for launch in 2025–2026, will have a field of view 100 times larger than Hubble's with comparable sensitivity and resolution.
The primary task for the Observation Planning Branch (OPB) is to implement and assist in the planning of observing programs for HST and JWST. Each of the members of OPB are assigned to this task for either or both missions, in their role as Program Coordinators (PCs).
Ranked as the highest scientific priority for a large space-based mission in the Astro2010 Decadal Survey, WFIRST will play a pivotal role in astrophysics in the 2020s. Advances in all areas of astrophysics will be possible, either through targeted General Observer programs, or through archival Guest Investigator analysis of data from core surveys optimized for studies of dark energy or exoplanets.
WFIRST is designed to have a field of view 100 times larger than Hubble's with comparable sensitivity and resolution, providing survey-sized data sets with space-based resolution. Its surveys will explore the nature of dark energy, discover and characterize exoplanets, and will revolutionize a large number of topics in general astrophysics. The WFIRST Project has been in Formulation since February of 2016, and recently completed a major mission review.
Our Roman team helped the mission meet major milestones, designed a robust cloud-based science platform, and continued to engage the astronomical community.
This year WFIRST was officially named the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and STScI made big strides in educating the scientific community about its range of research opportunities.
As the newly appointed Science Operations Center, the institute will help ensure the scientific success of NASA’s upcoming Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope scheduled for launch in the mid-2020s.
WFIRST passed a major mission review, allowing staff to begin the next phase of development.
The NASA Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is managed by NASA/GSFC with participation of STScI, Caltech/IPAC, and NASA/JPL
Contact the Roman Team