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14 Aug 2024
Key contractor BAE Systems delivers the fridge-sized camera that will generate panoramic views of the universe.
BAE Systems has delivered to NASA the primary piece of optical equipment that is scheduled to launch as part of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in 2027.
Known as the Wide Field Instrument (WFI), it has been designed to capture much broader views of the cosmos than either the Hubble or James Webb space telescopes is capable of, and should provide major new insights into studies of dark energy, dark matter, and - thanks to an additional coronagraph instrument - exoplanets.
Field of view
BAE Systems describes WFI an advanced visible-to-near-infrared imager with additional spectral capabilities that will capture highly detailed images over a field of view at least 100 times greater than Hubble, while maintaining a similar resolution.
“This instrument will dramatically improve the speed and scale of astronomical surveys, unlocking new insights into the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy, discovering distant galaxies and exoplanets, and studying how the structure of the universe has formed over billions of years,” stated the defense contractor.
Ball Aerospace - acquired by BAE Systems earlier this year for around $5.5 billion - designed and built the instrument's optical bench, element wheel, thermal control system, alignment compensation mechanism, and associated control electronics.
Meanwhile, a team at NASA Goddard provided the WFI’s focal plane system, relative calibration system, diffraction elements for the element wheel, and the instrument command and data handling electronics.
BAE Systems then led the integration of the various components and recently completed environmental testing, before shipping the completed WFI back to NASA Goddard.
Collaborative effort
Julie McEnery, senior project scientist for the Roman telescope at the Goddard Space Flight Center, commented: “This instrument will turn signals from space into a new understanding of how our universe works.
“To achieve its main goals, the mission will precisely measure hundreds of millions of galaxies. That’s 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.”
Bonnie Patterson, BAE Systems’ senior director of civil space programs, added: “The Wide Field Instrument is one of the most sophisticated instruments ever constructed, and once it's on orbit it will provide the scientific community with the most comprehensive surveys of the sky we've ever captured.”
NASA estimates that around 1000 people have been involved in the WFI’s development, from the initial design phase to assembling it from approximately one million individual components.
Aside from the main contractors, the collaborative effort included optics and photonics experts at detector maker Teledyne Imaging Sensors, thin-film coating specialist Alluxa, and Germany’s Jenoptik.
Once the Roman telescope is launched - currently scheduled for May 2027 - and commissioned, the WFI will begin collecting 300 megapixel images that each capture an area of sky about the size of the full moon.
Because that field of view is so large, it will enable astronomers to conduct surveys would otherwise take centuries - even with instruments as powerful as those on board the Webb telescope.
Cosmic dawn mystery
NASA explains that the light captured by Roman’s Hubble-sized 2.4 meter-diameter primary mirror will pass through one of several optical elements including filters, prisms, and grisms arranged in a large wheel that separate the incoming light into discrete wavelengths before those photons meet one of 18 detectors that are each made up of 16 million pixels and provide the wide field of view.
The space agency adds that once the telescope is up and running, its rapid and huge delivery of data will demand new analysis techniques including AI.
“If we had every astronomer on Earth working on Roman data, there still wouldn’t be nearly enough people to go through it all,” McEnery said. “We’re looking at modern techniques like machine learning and artificial intelligence to help sift through Roman’s observations and find where the most exciting things are.”
Named after NASA’s first chief astronomer, the Roman telescope could eventually survey light from as many as a billion galaxies during its operational lifetime.
It is hoped that the results will enable researchers to figure out the mystery of how exactly the universe transitioned from what is currently believed to be its initial “foggy” stage, through the so-called “cosmic dawn” that resulted in what we observe today.
Although the WFI is regarded as Roman’s primary tool, the mission will also feature a coronagraph instrument that is expected to greatly improve characterization of exoplanets, by blocking out the light from host stars so that exoplanets and their atmospheres can be imaged directly.
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