A single burn went so well that NASA's newest telescope gained 12 extra years
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SPACE
A single burn went so well that NASA's newest telescope gained 12 extra years
The Roman Space Telescope used 40 pounds of fuel against a 441 pound budget. NASA says the savings extend the mission from 10 years of observing to at least 22.
Key Takeaways
- Roman's first trajectory correction manoeuvre ran at better than 99 percent accuracy and used about 40 pounds of propellant against a 441 pound allocation.
- NASA said on 14 September that the savings translate to roughly 12 additional years of observing, with spare launch propellant worth about four more.
- A mission designed for 10 years of observations now has fuel for at least 22.
- Roman pairs Hubble class resolution with a field of view around 100 times larger, so a longer time baseline compounds the value of every survey.
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