NASA Raises Roman Space Telescope Vertical Ahead of Aug. 30 Falcon Heavy Launch
Updated
Updated · Science@NASA · Jul 6
NASA Raises Roman Space Telescope Vertical Ahead of Aug. 30 Falcon Heavy Launch
3 articles · Updated · Science@NASA · Jul 6
Summary
Roman was lifted from horizontal to vertical at Kennedy Space Center, marking a key prelaunch step as NASA targets liftoff no earlier than Aug. 30.
The move clears the way for inspections, functional testing and integration work after the observatory arrived from Goddard Space Flight Center in a climate-controlled shipping container.
Kennedy crews first transferred Roman to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility and performed extra airlock cleaning to remove trace contaminants before unboxing and hoisting it in the high bay.
The telescope is running about nine months ahead of schedule and is set to fly on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Launch Complex 39A.
Roman, named for NASA's first chief astronomer, is designed to survey the cosmos with a field of view at least 100 times larger than Hubble's.