Tech · MIT Technology Review
When NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope rolls out, as early as the end of next month
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It will allow astronomers to take the first pictures of planets orbiting other stars that are similar to those in MIT Technology Review’s solar system.
Key facts
- Named after Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first chief of astronomy, this new telescope will carry a roughly 300-megapixel wide-field camera that will enable it to capture images about 100 times larger
- I hope it’s remembered for it being that critical stepping stone for … finding Earth 2.0,” says Brandon Creager, the instrument’s lead mechanical engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
- Each has a 48-by-48 checkerboard of actuators (tiny pistons) beneath a thin, deformable sheet of glass
- The effect is subtle: Each patch of mirror can deform by up to 0.5 micrometers, or about one-fourth the size of an E. coli bacterium, and in increments as small as approximately 10 picometers
Summary
When NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launches, as early as the end of next month, it will attempt one of astronomy’s most precise disappearing acts to date. “I hope it’s remembered for it being that critical stepping stone for … finding Earth 2.0,” says Brandon Creager, the instrument’s lead mechanical engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Named after Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first chief of astronomy, this new telescope will carry a roughly 300-megapixel wide-field camera that will enable it to capture images about 100 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope’s widest exposures at a similar resolution.