[Music throughout] NASA’s Nancy Grace
Roman Space Telescope is designed to answer big questions about the universe:
what is dark energy, which seems to be speeding up the expansion
of the universe? How many planets exist among the stars, and
what are they like? The Roman Space Telescope is similar to
Hubble, but benefits from 30 years of technological development.
It will view the sky on a scale never before accomplished from space.
[Primary mirror] This is where Roman is closest to Hubble. It has the
same size and type of main mirror, a 2.4-meter precisely
shaped piece of silver-coated glass. The size of this mirror
is partly how Roman matches Hubble’s resolution.
[Wide Field Instrument] Roman’s main camera is the Wide Field Instrument which will take
infrared pictures of the sky to study dark energy, observe galaxies and
stars, and find exoplanets. Instead of Hubble’s single
first-generation image sensor, the WFI incorporates 18
3rd generation chips that allow it to take pictures capturing 100 times
greater sky area than Hubble’s. Each 300-megapixel
image will enable scientists to study a large portion of the sky.
At Roman’s back is its primary means of communication
with Earth, the High Gain Antenna. [High Gain Antenna] This antenna will be
responsible for sending nearly 1.4 terabytes of data to ground stations
every day. That’s the equivalent of 460 hours of streaming video.
Roman’s critical systems, such as
power and data handling, are located in six modules at the spacecraft’s
rear. [Avionics modules] These include six rotating “reaction wheels”
that control where the spacecraft points, nearly one ton of propellant,
for larger movements, and a 10 terabyte data recorder.
Roman’s other instrument is its Coronagraph Technology
Demonstration. [Coronagraph Technology Demonstration] A coronagraph blocks a star's light
to capture the faint light from orbiting planets. It will be the first
time a space telescope has used deformable mirrors to precisely
control the incoming light, and special masks to block only the starlight.
This method will enable Roman to capture direct images of
distant planets and even analyze the light that is reflected off their surfaces,
allowing scientists to learn about their composition and atmospheres.
The spacecraft’s solar panels
provide its power by converting sunlight into electricity. [Solar Panels]
They also shade the spacecraft, helping to keep its instruments at their design
temperatures. The solar panels will be able to provide
4.100 watts of power. Enough to run two commercial microwave ovens.
With all these systems working together, and in
partnership with powerful future telescopes, the Nancy Grace Roman
Space Telescope will be able to usher in a new era of studying our universe.
[Music]
[Explore: Solar system & beyond] [NASA]