Roman Stories

Aaron Vigil Helps Give SASS to Roman Space Telescope

5 min read

The stars in the big Wyoming skies inspired Aaron Vigil as a child to dream big. Today, he’s a mechanical engineer working on the Solar Array Sun Shield (SASS) for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope at Goddard. Name: Aaron…

Article3 weeks ago

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope to Investigate Galactic Fossils

5 min read

The universe is a dynamic, ever-changing place where galaxies are dancing, merging together, and shifting appearance. Unfortunately, because these changes take millions or billions of years, telescopes can only provide snapshots, squeezed into a human lifetime. However, galaxies leave behind…

Article3 weeks ago

Solar Panels for NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Pass Key Tests

2 min read

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s Solar Array Sun Shield has successfully completed recent tests, signaling that the assembly is on track to be completed on schedule. The panels are designed to power and shade the observatory, enabling all the…

Article3 weeks ago
A spiral galaxy with three prominent arms wrapping around it. The galaxy holds plenty of extra gas and dark dust between the arms. There are shining blue points throughout the arms and some patches of gas out beyond the galaxy’s edge, where stars are forming. The center of the galaxy also shines brightly. It is on a dark background where some small orange dots mark distant galaxies.

NASA Selects 5 New Roman Technology Fellows in Astrophysics

9 min read

NASA has awarded Nancy Grace Roman Technology Fellowships (RTF) to five early-career researchers in astrophysics for the class of 2023.  The program will support the advancement of their ideas for new technologies to further the exploration of the universe.  This…

Article1 month ago

Primary Instrument for Roman Space Telescope Arrives at NASA Goddard

6 min read

The primary instrument for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a sophisticated camera that will survey the cosmos from the outskirts of our solar system all the way out to the edge of the observable universe. Called the Wide…

Article1 month ago

NASA Tests Deployment of Roman Space Telescope’s ‘Visor’

5 min read

The “visor” for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope recently completed several environmental tests simulating the conditions it will experience during launch and in space. Called the Deployable Aperture Cover, this large sunshade is designed to keep unwanted light out…

Article1 month ago
K2-33b, shown in this illustration, is one of the youngest exoplanets detected to date using NASA's Kepler Space Telescope.

How NASA Citizen Science Fuels Future Exoplanet Research

5 min read

NASA’s upcoming flagship astrophysics missions, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and the Habitable Worlds Observatory, will study planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. Over 5,000 exoplanets have been confirmed to date — and given that scientists estimate…

Article1 month ago

How NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Will Illuminate Cosmic Dawn

6 min read

Today, enormous stretches of space are crystal clear, but that wasn’t always the case. During its infancy, the universe was filled with a “fog” that made it opaque, cloaking the first stars and galaxies. NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space…

Article2 months ago

Rebekah Hounsell: Tracking Cosmic Light to Untangle the Universe’s Darkest Mysteries

6 min read

Rebekah Hounsell is an assistant research scientist working on ways to optimize and build infrastructure for future observations made by the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The mission will shed light on many astrophysics topics, like dark energy, which are…

Article2 months ago

Bente Eegholm: Ensuring Space Telescopes Have Stellar Vision

7 min read

Bente Eegholm is an optical engineer working to ensure missions like the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope have stellar vision. When it launches by May 2027, the Roman mission will shed light on many astrophysics topics, like dark energy, which…

Article3 months ago