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NASA NTRS · 20260005923

The Roman Space Telescope Optical System: Status, Test, and Verification Update

Matthew Bolcar·John Hagopian·Bente Eegholm·Matthew Bergkoetter·Guangjun Gao·Patricia Lyons·Scott Rohrbach·Alice Liu·Tyler Groff·Alden Jurling·Joe Howard·Margaret Dominguez·Catherine Marx·Olha Asmolova·John Crooke·Boris Glebov·Joe Hayden·Samantha Herath·Mingjun Li·Tim Reichard·Drew Siedel·Greg Wenzel·Brian Kern·Mark Colavita·Gary Kuan·Kaitlyn Summey·Nick Collins·Nick Bond
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Abstract

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (“Roman”) is NASA’s next flagship observatory. Launching in 2026, Roman will explore the nature of dark energy as well as expand the census of exoplanets in our galaxy via microlensing. Roman’s large field of view, agile survey capabilities, and excellent stability enable these scientific objectives, yet present unique challenges for the design, test, and verification of its optical system. Roman recently completed a comprehensive thermal vacuum test of the Spacecraft bus + Integrated Payload Assembly (SCIPA), followed by integrating the Outer Barrel Assembly (OBA), Solar Array Sunshield (SASS), and Deployable Aperture Cover (DAC) with SCIPA to complete the Observatory. This paper will present an overview of the thermal vacuum optical testing as well as a status of the optical system performance and verification.

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Matthew Bolcar, John Hagopian, Bente Eegholm, Matthew Bergkoetter, Guangjun Gao, Patricia Lyons, Scott Rohrbach, Alice Liu, Tyler Groff, Alden Jurling, Joe Howard, Margaret Dominguez, Catherine Marx, Olha Asmolova, John Crooke, Boris Glebov, Joe Hayden, Samantha Herath, Mingjun Li, Tim Reichard, Drew Siedel, Greg Wenzel, Brian Kern, Mark Colavita, Gary Kuan, Kaitlyn Summey, Nick Collins, Nick Bond. The Roman Space Telescope Optical System: Status, Test, and Verification Update. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20260005923

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Design, Build, and Testing of the Roman Space Telescope’s Wide Field Instrument Optical Stimulus System (SORC)

The Stimulus Of Ray Cones (SORC) is an optical stimulus system developed to verify, characterize, and calibrate the Roman Space Telescope’s (RST) Wide Field Instrument (WFI) under simulated operational conditions. SORC provides several critical test modes, the primary being point-source mode, which projects an image anywhere on the Focal Plane Assembly (FPA) detectors. This mode provides precise position knowledge of the FPA within WFI. Additional modes enable capturing WFI pupil alignment, evaluation of WFI’s selectable optical elements, and verification of focal plane fiber operation for higher-level system testing. The light source system incorporates a suite of narrowband and broadband fiber fed sources spanning the visible to near-infrared range, with options for pulsed or continuous wave illumination. SORC was designed and built at NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center (GSFC). Initial system-level testing occurred under ambient conditions in GSFC’s Spacecraft Systems Development and Integration Facility (SSDIF), followed by vacuum testing at operational temperatures (SORC at 214-222 K) in the Space Environment Simulator (SES). The system was then shipped to BAE Systems in Boulder, CO for post-shipment ambient and cryogenic testing before integration with WFI for two thermal vacuum test campaigns at cryogenic temperatures. This presentation will focus on design, development, and performance of SORC. Details of WFI verification and calibration using SORC, along with test results, have been published previously and will be referenced only as needed to describe SORC. The SORC ground test capability is critical to ensuring WFI meets stringent optical performance requirements, directly supporting the mission’s science objectives.

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