NASA’s Roman telescope nears launch, reaches final integration and rehearsal milestones

With a scheduled launch date of Aug. 30, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is quickly approaching launch. In preparation for the launch from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, teams have achieved several notable pre-launch milestones since its arrival at the Cape in June. These milestones include cleaning and inspecting the telescope’s solar panels, fueling the telescope’s tanks, and integrating operations with SpaceX launch equipment.

Telescope teams also successfully completed a launch day dress rehearsal and flight readiness review, paving the way for the spacecraft to be integrated onto its Falcon Heavy launch vehicle and rolled out to Launch Complex 39A for launch.

Roman’s solar panels undergo inspection

After its arrival at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on June 21, Roman was transferred to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, where it underwent initial cleaning and was rotated to the vertical position atop a specialized work platform. With this initial inspection and cleaning work complete, Roman’s engineers turned to the telescope’s large solar arrays, which are collectively called the Solar Array Sun Shield.

Six solar panels comprise the Solar Array Sun Shield, which serves as both a power source and a shade for the telescope. Each of the six panels measures 2.1 by three meters, with the array spanning nearly the full length of the telescope. Once in orbit at the Sun-Earth Lagrange point 2 (L2), the array will extend to continuously face the Sun, generating 4,100 watts of power for the telescope during observations.

With the telescope in a vertical orientation atop the Pantheon work platform, technicians cleaned and inspected each of the Solar Array Sun Shield’s six panels, checking for any tiny debris or dust that could inhibit Roman’s operations once in space. The cleaning and inspection of the Solar Array Sun Shield took place from July 8 to July 14.

Roman’s Solar Array Sun Shield fully extended at Goddard Space Flight Center during construction. (Credit: NASA)

Teams fuel Roman for its mission

Soon after solar array cleaning and inspection, technicians began operations for fueling the telescope for its mission. On July 25, after days of preparations, teams loaded 290 gallons of hydrazine fuel into Roman’s onboard fuel tanks inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility.

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Roman will use this fuel to insert itself into the required orbit at L2, as well as for trajectory-correction burns en route. Once operations begin, Roman will use the hydrazine fuel and two thrusters to orient itself and ensure the Solar Array Sun Shield is constantly facing the Sun.

The fuel loaded onto the spacecraft is expected to support Roman’s five-year primary mission. However, teams believe the 290 gallons could potentially support an additional five-year extended mission, assuming minimal fuel usage and good telescope health.

Roman integrated with launch hardware

With a fully fueled, cleaned, and inspected observatory inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, Roman and SpaceX teams began integrating telescope hardware with launch hardware ahead of payload encapsulation.

Roman integrated onto its payload adapter and strut payload attach fitting. (Credit: NASA/Jolearra Tshiteya)

The telescope was first lifted and fitted to its payload adapter, or the mount the telescope will sit atop during its ride to space. Once on the payload adapter, Roman was lifted onto a strut payload attach fitting — a piece of specialized hardware designed to hold and withstand the forces of large, heavy payloads like Roman. The strut payload attach fitting, with Roman and its payload adapter on top, will be directly attached to the top of Falcon Heavy’s second stage.

Once fully secured to its payload adapter and strut payload attach fitting, teams encapsulated Roman inside two Falcon Heavy fairings, marking the final time Roman teams would ever see the telescope on Earth.

Teams complete launch dress rehearsal and Flight Readiness Review

On Thursday, Aug. 20, the NASA, SpaceX, and Roman teams successfully completed a dress rehearsal for Roman’s launch. As part of the dress rehearsal, teams performed a full end-to-end simulation of launch day operations, including powering up the telescope, fueling Falcon Heavy, and conducting weather briefings. Furthermore, teams practiced troubleshooting a variety of issues and scenarios, should anything go wrong on launch day.

Teams from Roman, NASA, and SpaceX all participated in the dress rehearsal from their actual consoles in Florida, allowing for further testing of team-to-team communications. All NASA missions undergo a dress rehearsal ahead of launch, ensuring that launch-day systems and teams are prepared to handle the unique requirements of different spacecraft. Roman’s systems are remarkably sensitive and unique, requiring mission teams to handle the launch-day countdown with care and precision.

A technician cleans and inspects Roman’s Solar Array Sun Shield. (Credit: NASA/Sydney Rohde (Rocz))

Following the completion of the launch dress rehearsal on Thursday, NASA and Roman mission managers met on Friday, Aug. 21, to conduct the Flight Readiness Review (FRR), the final comprehensive meeting before launch to determine whether the telescope is ready for its mission. Mission managers provided status updates on Roman’s launch-preparation activities, ultimately enabling teams to certify the telescope as ready for launch.

Passing the FRR allowed Roman teams to begin final launch preparation activities. In the coming days, Roman will be transported to SpaceX’s Horizontal Integration Facility at Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A), where it will be integrated with Falcon Heavy before launch. Once integrated, Falcon Heavy and Roman will roll out horizontally to LC-39A and then be raised vertically for launch.

NASA and SpaceX teams are targeting 7:26 AM EDT (11:26 UTC) on Sunday, Aug. 30, for the launch of Roman from LC-39A at KSC. Falcon Heavy will follow an easterly trajectory, placing the telescope on a course to L2. The two side boosters will return to land at concrete pads at the Cape, while the center core will be expended.

For more Roman coverage and information, check out NSF’s Roman telescope archives. 

(Lead image: Roman technicians inspect the telescope’s solar arrays. Credit: NASA/Jolearra Tshiteya)

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