NASA said it activated Roman’s 300-megapixel Wide Field Instrument and that the first test image shows out-of-focus stars with the detectors still stowed. Space.com wrote that after the 30 August launch the instrument dried for 10 days and that the heater was turned off on 11 September on the way to L2.
NASA wrote that the Roman team activated the 300-megapixel infrared Wide Field Instrument. The first test image shows out-of-focus stars with the detector array still stowed as at launch. NASA described the broad, donut-like features as expected for the present configuration. First science images are targeted for early 2027. Each star is spread over thousands of pixels; this is not yet a science image.[1], [2]
NASA wrote that the instrument dried for 10 days at about -65 °C. On the morning of 11 September the heater was turned off. After it reached about -143 °C, 18 infrared detectors were activated. The detectors continued cooling toward about -183 °C. The focus mechanism was checked on Sunday morning. The coronagraph team at Caltech/IPAC confirmed communications.[1], [2]
Space.com wrote that Roman launched on 30 August and is on a three-month trek to L2. Josh Schlieder at NASA Goddard called the Wide Field Instrument activation a huge milestone. The Coronagraph Instrument also completed a component checkout. Science operations have not started. Space.com described the WFI as a 300-megapixel camera built to survey wide swaths of sky.[1], [2]
