Roman Wide Field Instrument Optomechanical Assembly performance summary

The Roman Space Telescope Wide Field Instrument (WFI) will enable revolutionary advancements in astronomical survey science. Instrument sensitivity spans the 0.5 to 2.3 μm spectral range with a significant increase in field of view, detector sensitivity, and angular resolution compared with existing observatories. The science of the observatory drove tight stability requirements and necessitated an array of different optical elements within WFI to switch between imaging at different wavelengths, using two slitless spectroscopic elements. The science also drove the need for an uncommonly high level of detector calibration, requiring an on-board calibration system supported by unique optics, as well as precise stray light mitigation. WFI has recently completed its year-long integration and test campaign as a full instrument, including multiple environmental tests, enabling its performance to be studied in operational temperature conditions. This publication summarizes several key optical performance aspects of the instrument, including bandpass filter wavefront error, stray light control, and optomechanical alignment. The results demonstrate that the WFI is ready to help transform astrophysics as part of the next NASA flagship observatory.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Astronomical Telescopes Instruments and Systems
Published
2025-10-03
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1117/1.jatis.11.4.044001
Primary Topic
Inertial Sensor and Navigation
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Roman Wide Field Instrument Optomechanical Assembly performance summary

Joshua E. Schlieder, Lane Meier, Patricia Lyons, Tyler D. Groff et al.
Journal of Astronomical Telescopes Instruments and Systems
Inertial Sensor and Navigation
article

Roman Wide Field Instrument Optomechanical Assembly performance summary

Joshua E. Schlieder, Lane Meier, Patricia Lyons, Tyler D. Groff, Eric Frater, Sebastián Valencia, Douglas B. Leviton, Derek Sabatke, Guangjun Gao, Benjamin Cromey, A. Choi, Shane Wake, Thomas Delker, Diana Shukis, Eric R. Switzer, Maxime Rizzo, Nicholas Collins, Timothy Finch, Catherine T. Marx
article en

Abstract

The Roman Space Telescope Wide Field Instrument (WFI) will enable revolutionary advancements in astronomical survey science. Instrument sensitivity spans the 0.5 to 2.3 μm spectral range with a significant increase in field of view, detector sensitivity, and angular resolution compared with existing observatories. The science of the observatory drove tight stability requirements and necessitated an array of different optical elements within WFI to switch between imaging at different wavelengths, using two slitless spectroscopic elements. The science also drove the need for an uncommonly high level of detector calibration, requiring an on-board calibration system supported by unique optics, as well as precise stray light mitigation. WFI has recently completed its year-long integration and test campaign as a full instrument, including multiple environmental tests, enabling its performance to be studied in operational temperature conditions. This publication summarizes several key optical performance aspects of the instrument, including bandpass filter wavefront error, stray light control, and optomechanical alignment. The results demonstrate that the WFI is ready to help transform astrophysics as part of the next NASA flagship observatory.

Journal of Astronomical Telescopes Instruments and SystemsVol. 11(04)
Goddard Space Flight Center (US), BAE Systems (Sweden) (SE), Nanophase Technologies (United States) (US), EP Analytics (United States) (US), Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies (United States) (US)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center
Openalex Percentile: Top 64%
Inertial Sensor and Navigation
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