After several years of preparation, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is about to launch.

Here’s a look at the steps, tests, and deployments that NASA’s mission planners hope happen in the hours, days, and weeks after launch.

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s Carefully Orchestrated Series of Deployments

According to the mission site, once Roman has left Earth’s atmosphere, it will spend the next 90 days going through “a carefully orchestrated series of deployments, calibrations, and tests.”

Within the first hours of launch, NASA says the rocket boosters and main stage of the 18,000-pound (8,000-kilogram) dry-mass spacecraft, which is “about the mass of a Tyrannosaurus rex,” will separate. Soon thereafter, the rocket’s reusable side boosters will return to the area around the launch site and attempt to land.

In space, the rocket’s second stage will separate from the nose cone, which is jettisoned into space. This is followed by Roman separating from the launch vehicle.

To generate power and protect the spacecraft’s sensitive payload, Roman’s solar panels and sunshade will be deployed. According to NASA’s mission fact sheet, each of the space telescope’s six solar panels measures about 7 by 10 feet (2 by 3 meters) and is covered in a total of 3,902 solar cells.

When fully deployed, the panels will combine to provide up to 4 kilowatts of power. For comparison, the mission site says that it is “about the same rate that a modest rooftop solar panel system produces during the daytime.”

The Next 30 Days

Roman will spend the next 30 days speeding toward its final destination, a relatively stable location in the solar system called Lagrange 2, located roughly 930,000 to 1 million miles (1.5 to 1.6 million kilometers) from Earth.

During that journey, the craft’s antenna and deployable aperture will deploy. NASA says the carbon composite radio dish is 5.6 feet (1.7 meters) in diameter. For comparison, the space organization compared its height to an average refrigerator but noted it “weighs only 24 pounds (10.9 kilograms).”

“Its large size will help Roman send radio signals across a million miles of intervening space to Earth,” NASA explained.

One band of the dual-band antenna will receive commands from mission control and return information about the spacecraft’s location and overall health. The second band will communicate what NASA termed “a deluge of data at up to 500 megabits per second.”

About halfway through its voyage, Roman will make a course correction. During that same phase, the spacecraft’s Coronograph instrument will power up. The telescope’s other primary sensor, the Wide Field Instrument, will activate a few weeks later.

“With all components fully deployed, NASA said Roman is over 42 feet (12.7 meters long) and over 14 feet (4.4 meters) wide. The space agency said these dimensions make Roman “about the size of a tour bus.”

Finally, NASA said that throughout the rest of its 90-day commissioning period, both the antenna and Coronagraph “will run through a series of calibrations and tests.”

First Images Expected in 2027

Although the agency did not specify an exact date for the space telescope’s first light, the Roman team said it “anticipates releasing new images by early 2027.” For detailed updates, you can also follow NASA’s official Roman blog.

Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and has spent the last six years as Associate News Editor and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him at christopher@thedebrief.org.

NASA engineering teams are preparing for the launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which will soon begin the first phase of its historic mission to help scientists unlock the mysteries of dark energy.

On Wednesday, the American space agency reported that the completed telescope, presently contained within its payload fairing, has been transported from NASA’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to a SpaceX hangar located at the famous Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

If all goes according to plan, the telescope will be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at 7:26 a.m. EDT this Sunday, Aug. 30.

What Roman’s Science Tool Kit Includes

The telescope’s unique science instruments make Roman a different breed of space observatory from its predecessors, like the James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Telescope, as they are designed with the special focus of advancing the search for dark energy.

Roman is equipped with two primary capabilities, which involve its Wide Field Instrument (WFI) and Coronagraph Instrument. With a 300-megapixel, near-infrared camera designed for large area image capture and spectroscopy, the WFI will enable astronomers to observe a 0.281 square degree field of view and includes a special imaging mode with two slitless spectroscopy modes.

“The instrument provides a sharp point spread function, precision photometry, and stable observations for implementing the Dark Energy, Exoplanet Microlensing, and NIR surveys,” according to a NASA FAQ page detailing Roman’s primary instrument.

Exoplanet Imagery and Spectroscopy

Meanwhile, the telescope’s Coronagraph Instrument also features both imaging and spectroscopy modes, with capabilities fine-tuned for imaging exoplanets.

“The Coronagraph will be the first instrument on a space telescope to make use of numerically optimized, precision-fabricated coronagraph masks,” NASA’s FAQ page reads. This will be achieved by employing a combination of deformable mirrors that will enable high-order wavefront control, a low-order wavefront sensing and control system, and finally, CCD detectors designed for electron multiplication and counting low-flux photons.

A Next-Generation Space Observatory Prepares for Launch

Along with its search for dark energy and exoplanets, Roman will also provide NASA and researchers around the world with an unprecedented opportunity to study the formation of galaxies and the way that dark matter governs their evolution over time.

NASA will begin live coverage of Roman’s launch on Sunday morning at 6:20 a.m. Eastern Time, and you can follow the updates online with NASA’s free streaming platforms.

Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.

2,000 years ago, ancient Roman engineers were building structures that have withstood the test of time remarkably well, many of which remain standing today. At the heart of their success lies a mystery: what were the secrets of ancient Roman concrete that made these buildings so durable?

Now, MIT researchers are drawing from this curiously durable technology of the ancient world to help them develop modern building materials that can last longer, and potentially even reduce the carbon footprint of modern construction—all while managing to self-repair itself by healing small cracks.

Reverse-Engineering Roman Concrete

The mystery of Roman concrete became a fascination for MIT Associate Professor Admir Masic, who has spent many years now investigating the chemistry and other properties of this durable ancient technology. Based on his research, the material’s longevity isn’t just a product of the ingredients used by its ancient creators: the secret of Roman concrete also has to do with its manufacturing process.

This, according to Masic, seems to be at the heart of the material’s unusual ability to repair itself after cracks begin to form.

In 2023, Masic and his colleagues began looking at samples of lime that were very rich in calcium, which researchers call “lime clasts.” These clasts are ubiquitous throughout concrete found in ancient Roman constructions, although they were long discounted as being the byproducts of imperfections in the mixing process.

However, closer inspection revealed something remarkable about these lime clasts: as cracks form in the concrete, water can gradually enter the material, allowing calcium within the lime casts to dissolve and then recrystallize, effectively sealing the newly formed openings.

Applying Ancient Technology to Modern Engineering

Now, that discovery is propelling the development of modern concrete that incorporates calcium-rich lime clasts, thanks to a partnership between Masic and Italian entrepreneur Paolo Sabatini, who joined forces to develop a commercial version now being produced by Dmat, a company they co-founded in 2021.

Part of the strength of Dmat’s approach is the fact that they have developed additives that can be added to existing kinds of concrete and mortar, rather than requiring builders to acquire new and unfamiliar materials.

“We can now offer an extremely competitively priced, self-healing product that is easy to implement and available worldwide,” Masic recently told MIT News.

“What’s exciting to me is that this material could become the industry standard without requiring companies to change how they operate,” he added.

Increased Structural Lifespan and Environmentally Friendly

Beyond its ability to strengthen the durability of concrete, Dmat’s new technology can also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 40 percent compared to those in traditional concrete. Presently, the new material is already being used in several infrastructure projects in parts of Europe, with eventual plans for expansion into the United States and other countries.

Widespread implementation and scalability like this is important, according to Masic and his colleagues, since large volumes of concrete are produced throughout the world, the production of which accounts for as much as 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

Extending the life of structures while simultaneously reducing the emissions associated with their construction would therefore hold significant environmental benefits.

Building the Future with Lessons from the Past

“At Dmat, we like to view concrete as an ecosystem,” Sabatini recently said in a statement. Successfully introducing a new material, he argues, requires considering not merely its chemistry, but cost, transportation, certification, and compatibility with established construction practices.

Notably, Dmat’s approach differs from other examples of modern experimental self-healing concretes, which generally rely on bacteria or polymers. Instead, by placing the focus on ancient techniques used by Roman engineers that long remained overlooked and misunderstood, Masic and his colleagues have developed an innovative new technology with roots that go back almost two millennia.

“There’s something profound about how ancient builders, without our modern chemistry, engineered self-healing material that still stands today,” Masic notes.

“My group research and work with Dmat is to make the modern built environment better by applying the best lessons from the past to today’s challenges,” he adds.

Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.