NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is set to undertake an ambitious Galactic Plane Survey, aiming to map an unprecedented 20 billion stars in the Milky Way. This endeavor represents a significant leap forward, charting approximately four times more stars than all previous efforts combined, and promises to offer profound insights into the galaxy's structure, the processes of star formation, and the origins of our solar system.
The Roman Space Telescope is scheduled for launch no later than May 2027, with a potential earlier deployment as soon as fall 2026. The telescope's Wide Field Instrument (WFI) will play a crucial role in this survey, capturing images with a field of view at least 100 times larger than that of the Hubble Space Telescope. This enhanced capability will allow for a meticulous mapping of the distribution of stars and the interstellar medium—the cosmic cradle of gas and dust essential for the birth of stars and planets—throughout our galaxy.
The project is a collaborative effort, with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center managing the mission. Key contributions come from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech/IPAC, and the Space Telescope Science Institute. Major industrial partners supporting the mission include BAE Systems Inc., L3Harris Technologies, and Teledyne Scientific & Imaging. L3Harris Technologies, for example, has already delivered the telescope's critical Optical Telescope Assembly, which has undergone rigorous testing to ensure its precision in the space environment.
All data collected by the Roman Space Telescope will be made publicly accessible through the Roman Research Nexus and the Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes. This commitment to open data ensures that astronomers worldwide can contribute to and benefit from the discoveries made, thereby advancing our collective understanding of the cosmos. The Galactic Plane Survey is expected to illuminate the processes that have shaped the Milky Way and continue to influence its ongoing development.