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Goddard Engineering and Technology Directorate

NASA Installs Key ‘Sunblock’ Shield on Roman Space Telescope

Technicians installing two sunshields onto NASA’s nearly complete Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on July 17. The large yet lightweight panels will block sunlight, keeping Roman’s instruments cool and stable as the mission explores the infrared universe. Credit: NASA/Sophia Roberts
Technicians installing two sunshields onto NASA’s nearly complete Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on July 17. The large yet lightweight panels will block sunlight, keeping Roman’s instruments cool and stable as the mission explores the infrared universe. Credit: NASA/Sophia Roberts

Technicians have successfully installed two sunshields onto NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s inner segment. Along with the observatory’s Solar Array Sun Shield and Deployable Aperture Cover, the panels (together called the Lower Instrument Sun Shade), will play a critical role in keeping Roman’s instruments cool and stable as the mission explores the infrared universe.

The team is on track to join Roman’s outer and inner assemblies this fall to complete the full observatory, which can then undergo further prelaunch testing.

“This shield is like an extremely strong sunblock for Roman’s sensitive instruments, protecting them from heat and light from the Sun that would otherwise overwhelm our ability to detect faint signals from space,” said Matthew Stephens, an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The sunshade, which was designed and engineered at NASA Goddard, is essentially an extension of Roman’s solar panels, except without solar cells. Each sunshade flap is roughly the size of a garage door — about 7 by 7 feet (2.1 by 2.1 meters) — and 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) thick…

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