Technicians at NASA’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida offloaded eight high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) wall modules and other ground support equipment on April 27. The equipment will support launch processing of the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

Each 1,800-pound module enhances the PHSF’s clean room systems, helping meet the telescope’s stringent cleanliness requirements during its time in the facility, where the observatory will undergo key tasks such as spacecraft fueling prior to liftoff.

Roman will observe the universe in infrared light using its Wide Field Instrument and a Coronagraph Instrument technology demonstration. Its wide field of view will produce panoramic images that help astronomers investigate some of the greatest mysteries in the cosmos, including why the universe’s expansion appears to be accelerating.

By using multiple complementary techniques, Roman will chart how the universe has evolved over cosmic time and provide new insights into the nature of dark energy. Roman also will advance the study of exoplanets and map the structure and distribution of normal matter and dark matter across space and time.

Teams are targeting launch as soon as early September aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy.

Photo credit: NASA/Leejay Lockhart