The primary mirror of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which will collect and focus light from the cosmic objects, has been completed.It has been developed in Maryland’s Goddard Space Flight Centre of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
With the help of this mirror, the telescope will capture space vistas, which will be better than Hubble space telescope, informed NASA.
The field of view achieved with the help of this telescope will be 100 times more than Hubble images. Reacting to the progress made by his team, Scott Smith, manager of Roman telescope, said that it is very exciting for them to have achieved this milestone.
He said, “Success relies on a team with each person doing their part, and it’s especially true in our current challenging environment. “
The scientists have used ultralow-expansion glass in the making of this primary mirror. This has been keeping in mind the fact that the mirror will experience a wide range of temperatures between earth and space.
The primary mirror will send light to the Wide Field and Coronagraph instrument of the Roman telescope. The Wide Field instrument will help scientists to map the distribution and structure of invisible dark matter. It will also help in studying the planetary systems and evolution of the universe.
The Coronagraph instrument will help in completely restricting the glare of the stars. This will enable astronomers to directly image planets.
The vantage point of this telescope will be around 1.5 million kilometers away from the Earth.
The additional testing of the mirror will be conducted at L3Harris Technologies. Although the testing has happened at different temperatures, the new test will happen while it will be attached to its support structure.
Smith believes that their work is not over even though they have made the primary mirror. He said, “We’re excited to see this mission through to launch and beyond, and eager to witness the wonders it will reveal.”
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