WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.399 --> 00:00:07.719 Welcome to Bedtime Astronomy. Explore the wonders of the cosmos 2 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:12.279 with our soothing Bedtime Astronomie podcast. Each episode offers a 3 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:16.320 gentle journey through the stars, planets, and beyond, perfect for 4 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:20.239 unwinding after a long day. Let's travel through the mysteries 5 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:22.440 of the universe as you drift off into a peaceful 6 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:23.800 slumber under the night sky. 7 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:30.960 Imagine stepping outside tonight, right, and you hold up a single, 8 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:34.759 tiny grain of sand at arm's length against the night sky. 9 00:00:35.039 --> 00:00:38.399 Oh h, that's a classic way to visualize it, right, So. 10 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:42.079 That minuscule speck, that almost invisible fraction of the cosmos, 11 00:00:42.600 --> 00:00:45.439 that's roughly the area that the Hubble Space telescope can 12 00:00:45.479 --> 00:00:47.240 observe in a single exposure. 13 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:51.359 Yeah, just a tiny, tiny pinprick of the sky exactly. 14 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:53.679 Now, imagine if you could just swap out that grain 15 00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:57.039 of sand for a patch of sky larger than the 16 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:01.280 entire full moon, and in one single snapshot you capture 17 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:04.879 the precise location, the chemical composition, the age of every 18 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:10.120 single galaxy, every start, every photon within that massive expanse. 19 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:12.359 Wait, I mean it's a staggering leap in capability, it 20 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:12.760 really is. 21 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:15.319 And the crazy thing is that light is happening right now. 22 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:18.640 It is mid May twenty twenty six. If you're listening 23 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:20.719 to this right now, I want you to project yourself 24 00:01:20.760 --> 00:01:22.359 forward just a few short months. 25 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:23.319 What's to September? 26 00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:26.239 Yeah, exactly. Picture the humid, salty air of the Florida 27 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:29.200 coast in early September. You're standing on the grassy shores 28 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:31.640 near Cape Canaveral, and you're looking across the water at 29 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:35.280 Launch Complex thirty nine A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, 30 00:01:35.640 --> 00:01:37.840 the historic pad, Yeah, the one with all the history. 31 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:42.079 And sitting on that pad is a SpaceX Falcon heavy rocket, 32 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:46.439 which is just this absolute behemoth of aerospace engineering, venting 33 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:48.879 those clouds of white vapor into the morning sky. 34 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:49.760 It's quite a sight. 35 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:52.760 It's incredible. But the real story, you know, it isn't 36 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:55.519 the millions of pounds of thrust waiting to ignite. The 37 00:01:55.560 --> 00:01:58.920 real story is tucked inside the payload faring at the 38 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:00.000 very top of that rocket. 39 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:01.799 Right the payload itself. 40 00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:05.480 We are talking about ten five hundred kilograms of the 41 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:10.159 most exquisitely sensitive optical and engineering technology ever assembled. That 42 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:13.719 payload is the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. 43 00:02:13.319 --> 00:02:14.719 It really is an incredible machine. 44 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:17.439 Okay, let's unpack this, because we are standing on the 45 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:21.800 absolute precipice of a monumental event in astrophysics. We're going 46 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:24.439 to break down exactly what is inside that payload faring, 47 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:28.240 explore the mind bending physics it's built to exploit, and 48 00:02:28.759 --> 00:02:33.159 really understand why this specific observatory is going to fundamentally 49 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:35.080 rewrite our understanding of reality. 50 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:38.680 What's fascinating here is actually the timeline itself. That's where 51 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:42.479 this story takes its first really extraordinary turn. Oh yeah, 52 00:02:42.520 --> 00:02:46.360 the schedule, right, Because in the realm of flagship aerospace projects, 53 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:51.120 I mean endeavors that involve thousands of brilliant minds and 54 00:02:51.159 --> 00:02:55.240 billions of dollars and cutting edge, never before flown technology, 55 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:58.800 schedules are well, they're historically treated as rough suggestions. 56 00:02:58.919 --> 00:03:01.759 Yeah, launching in twenty two money usually means maybe twenty. 57 00:03:01.479 --> 00:03:02.680 Twenty four exactly. 58 00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:07.360 Projects of this scale almost universally face delays. The engineering 59 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:10.159 challenges are simply too complex and the unknowns are just 60 00:03:10.199 --> 00:03:14.199 too vast. Yet, NASA made a formal structural commitment to 61 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:17.120 deliver the Roman Space Telescope no later than May of 62 00:03:17.159 --> 00:03:19.520 twenty twenty seven, which is next year, right, But the 63 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:21.719 fact that we are sitting here in mid May twenty 64 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:25.680 twenty six actively targeting an early September launch means the 65 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:28.439 observatory is tracking roughly eight months. 66 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:28.960 Ahead of schedule. 67 00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:29.439 Wow. 68 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:33.319 Yeah, it is a staggering administrative and engineering triumph. I 69 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:36.120 mean it is almost without precedent and modern space exploration 70 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:41.479 to deliver a generational, flagship class scientific instrument not just early, 71 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:44.319 but remarkably under its projected budget. 72 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:46.639 That is exactly the point where my brain just sort 73 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:47.319 of stutters a bit. 74 00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:49.479 It's hard to process, honestly, Right. 75 00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:53.439 A flagship space telescope coming in under budget and ahead 76 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:56.439 of schedule feels like a complete violation of the laws 77 00:03:56.439 --> 00:04:00.000 of physics before the telescope even gets off the ground. 78 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:02.560 A way to put it, It's like it's. 79 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:06.360 Like hiring a contractor to completely gut and remodel your kitchen, 80 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:09.080 and not only do they finish the job three months early, 81 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:11.319 but they also hand you a check for the materials 82 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:12.080 they didn't end up. 83 00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:15.439 Needing, which never happens never, except. 84 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:19.639 In this scenario. The kitchen costs several billion dollars, requires 85 00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:22.360 materials that barely exist, and it's going to be parked 86 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:25.240 a million miles away in the lethal vacuum of outer space. 87 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:28.680 Yeah, the steaks are just slightly higher than a kitchen remodel. 88 00:04:28.519 --> 00:04:31.079 Just a little bit. So how did the teams actually 89 00:04:31.160 --> 00:04:33.040 pull this off? Like, how did we arrive at this 90 00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:35.480 incredibly advantageous vantage point today? 91 00:04:35.720 --> 00:04:38.439 Well, to appreciate how they accomplish this, you really have 92 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:43.199 to look at the meticulous, frankly grueling gauntlet of milestones 93 00:04:43.240 --> 00:04:46.519 the teams at NASA and their commercial partners navigated over 94 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:49.920 the past few years. A pivotal moment, like the true 95 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:54.439 turning point was November twenty fifth, twenty twenty five. That 96 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:57.959 was the day final assembly was completed inside the massive 97 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:02.000 ultrasterile clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in 98 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:03.120 Green Belt, Maryland. 99 00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:05.720 And building something like this in a clean room, that's 100 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:07.639 not just you know, wearing a hairnet. 101 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:10.360 Oh no, No, the assembly phase is essentially a high 102 00:05:10.439 --> 00:05:15.720 stakes microscopic ballet. You are marrying the delicate, precision aligned 103 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:19.759 optical systems and sensors with the rugged spacecraft. 104 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:21.120 Bus, the bus being like the frame. 105 00:05:21.079 --> 00:05:25.480 Yeah, exactly, the structural spine that provides power, propulsion, and communication. 106 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:27.959 And in a clean room like that the air is 107 00:05:27.959 --> 00:05:30.759 aggressively filtered to remove particles down to a fraction of 108 00:05:30.759 --> 00:05:34.240 a micron. Wow, technicians operate in full body suits, the 109 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:38.199 bunny suits, because literally, a single rogue eyelash or a 110 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:41.519 microscopic flake of dead skins settling on a primary mirror 111 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:43.800 can permanently degrade the scientific return. 112 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:45.680 That is so stressful to even think about. 113 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:48.279 Right. But once that final bolt was torqued and the 114 00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:51.800 integration was complete in late twenty twenty five, the intellectual 115 00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:55.800 challenge shifted into a phase of sheer physical brutality. 116 00:05:55.399 --> 00:05:56.600 Which is the environmental test. 117 00:05:56.800 --> 00:05:58.639 Exactly, environmental test. 118 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:01.680 Right, because building a master piece of delicate optics is 119 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:05.120 only step one. Step two is proving that your masterpiece 120 00:06:05.160 --> 00:06:08.519 won't instantly shatter into a billion pieces when you strap 121 00:06:08.519 --> 00:06:11.199 it to the top of a controlled chemical explosion, which is, 122 00:06:12.040 --> 00:06:15.360 let's be honest, precisely what the Falcon heavy launch vehicle is. 123 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:19.199 Yeah, it's a giant bomb that goes up. So environmental 124 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:23.240 testing is the ultimate crucible. It is the phase where 125 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:26.079 you intentionally torture your own creation. 126 00:06:26.279 --> 00:06:27.000 You torture it. 127 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:31.879 Literally. It begins with acoustic and vibration simulations. They take 128 00:06:31.959 --> 00:06:36.560 this fragile, perfectly aligned instrument, suspend it and subject it 129 00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:41.000 to mechanical vibrations that perfectly replicate the violent, bone rattling 130 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:43.920 ascent of the rocket pushing through the Earth's atmosphere. 131 00:06:43.959 --> 00:06:44.920 So they shake it violently. 132 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:48.839 One yes, but the acoustic testing is arguably even more visceral. 133 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:49.920 Oh really sound? 134 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:50.399 Yeah. 135 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:54.720 They place the observatory in a specialized acoustic chamber. It's 136 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:59.240 essentially a room lined with massive, specialized nitrogen driven horns. 137 00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:01.319 Okay, wait, like speakers. 138 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:06.279 Huge speakers, and they blast the spacecraft with sound waves 139 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:10.360 so incredibly intense, often exceeding one hundred and forty decibels, 140 00:07:10.680 --> 00:07:13.360 that if a human were standing in that room unprotected, 141 00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:18.000 the acoustic energy would cause immediate catastrophic physical trauma. 142 00:07:18.199 --> 00:07:20.759 Wait, one hundred and forty decibels, that's what like standing 143 00:07:20.839 --> 00:07:21.759 next to a jet engine. 144 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:25.480 Yeah, it's lethal sound. They are blasting the telescope with 145 00:07:25.639 --> 00:07:28.720 literal walls of sound to prove that the sheer roar 146 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:32.000 of the rocket engines won't shatter the glass mirrors or 147 00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:34.720 shake the microscopic solder joints on the circuit boards. 148 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:38.519 Apart, I just I cannot imagine the physiological stress of 149 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:41.439 being an engineer in the control room during that test. 150 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:42.600 Oh, it's terrifying. 151 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:45.839 You've spent a decade of your life designing this singular, 152 00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:49.439 irreplaceable object and you have to sit behind thick glass 153 00:07:49.480 --> 00:07:52.120 and watch as it gets battered by lethal sound waves, 154 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:53.120 just praying that your. 155 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:54.839 Math was right and you just have to wait and see. 156 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:57.079 Yeah, and if it survives the sound, then it has 157 00:07:57.120 --> 00:07:59.240 to survive the total absence of it. Yeah, go straight 158 00:07:59.240 --> 00:08:01.959 into thermal vac chamber, which I have always found to 159 00:08:01.959 --> 00:08:04.800 be the most intimidating concept in spacecraft engineering. 160 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:08.680 Yeah, the thermal vacuum test or TVAC. It's an entirely 161 00:08:08.680 --> 00:08:11.759 different kind of extreme because space is not a friendly, 162 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:15.240 stable environment, definitely not. When a telescope is in orbit, 163 00:08:15.639 --> 00:08:19.399 the side facing the sun is baking an intense, unfiltered 164 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:22.920 solar radiation, while the shadowed side is plunged into the 165 00:08:23.079 --> 00:08:27.839 unimaginably frigid temperatures of the cosmic void, you know, hovering 166 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:31.160 just a few degrees above absolute zero. 167 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:33.559 Which is what like minus four to fifty fahrenheit or 168 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:34.360 something roughly. 169 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:38.480 Yeah, So to simulate this, engineers lock the fully assembled 170 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:43.519 observatory inside a massive, multi story steel vault a vault, yeah, 171 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:45.639 and they pump out the atmosphere to create a high 172 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:50.360 vacuum entirely removing air pressure and convection. Then, using cryogenic 173 00:08:50.360 --> 00:08:53.720 liquid nitrogen shrouds and intense thermal lamps, they plunge the 174 00:08:53.720 --> 00:08:57.559 spacecraft into extreme temperature swings, soaking it in heat and 175 00:08:57.600 --> 00:08:58.360 then freezing it. 176 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:00.639 And this isn't just for a couple hours, No, this 177 00:09:00.679 --> 00:09:03.159 phase lasts for weeks, weeks, weeks. 178 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:05.960 The primary goal is to ensure that the disparate materials, 179 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:08.919 you know, the carbon fiber, the aluminum, the glass, the titanium, 180 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:11.440 that they don't expand and contract at rates that would 181 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:12.320 warp the structure. 182 00:09:12.519 --> 00:09:15.519 Because if the glass shrinks more than the aluminum. 183 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:18.720 Exactly, the mirrors could crack or the optical alignments could drift. 184 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:22.519 They have to prove that the alignments remain flawlessly true 185 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:26.159 down to the nanometer, even when the entire machine is 186 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:27.759 operating in a deep freeze. 187 00:09:28.120 --> 00:09:29.159 And Roman passed this. 188 00:09:29.559 --> 00:09:33.159 Roman endured the scontlet and passed with flying colors. That 189 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:36.440 absolute validation is what led to the April twenty twenty 190 00:09:36.440 --> 00:09:40.600 six media event at Goudard where NASA officially showcased the 191 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:46.320 integrated observatory and confirmed this highly accelerated September launch target. 192 00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:48.279 Which brings us right to this exact moment. It is 193 00:09:48.519 --> 00:09:51.639 mid May. The telescope is sitting at Godard right now 194 00:09:51.799 --> 00:09:55.039 undergoing its absolute final close out, the final checks. Yeah, 195 00:09:55.080 --> 00:09:58.440 they're running the ultimate system verifications. They're conducting deployment tests 196 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:02.000 right like commanding the solar raised unfold, testing the deployment 197 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:04.320 mechanisms for the high gain antennas. 198 00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:06.320 Because in Spacelight you only get one shot. 199 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:09.879 Exactly if a solar array gets stuck halfway open a 200 00:10:09.879 --> 00:10:13.240 million miles from Earth, there is no astronaut repair crew 201 00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:15.519 you can call. You can't just jiggle the handle. It 202 00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:17.399 has to work perfectly the very first time. 203 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:19.759 And that's why they test it one hundred times. 204 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:20.039 On the ground. 205 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:22.600 Right, So all of this testing is the preamble to 206 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:26.200 next month. In mid June twenty twenty six, they're going 207 00:10:26.279 --> 00:10:30.279 to carefully load this multi billion dollar masterpiece into a 208 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:35.000 custom built environmentally controlled shipping container, put it on a 209 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:38.799 specialized transporter, and carefully drive it down to the Kennedy 210 00:10:38.840 --> 00:10:40.000 Space Center in Florida. 211 00:10:40.200 --> 00:10:44.039 Yeah, the road trip and the arrival at Kennedy represents 212 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:47.159 the final terrestrial chapter for the Roman Space Telescope. 213 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:49.799 So what happens when it actually gets to Florida, Well. 214 00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:51.480 When it gets to Florida next month, it will be 215 00:10:51.480 --> 00:10:55.000 wheeled into the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility commonly known as 216 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:58.879 the PHSF the PHSF okay, And this facility is exactly 217 00:10:58.919 --> 00:11:01.600 what its name implies. It is where the most critical 218 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:05.799 and often the most dangerous, final processing occurs. The telescope 219 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:08.720 will undergo another round of meticulous. 220 00:11:08.039 --> 00:11:10.320 Cleaning because it's been on a truck, right. 221 00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:14.080 And technicians will install the final thermal protection blankets, securing 222 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:17.039 the multi layer insulation that looks like you know, shiny 223 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:20.799 gold foil but is actually highly engineered captain and mylar. 224 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:25.080 Uh yeah, that classic gold foil look on satellites exactly. 225 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:29.799 Then comes the hazardous part loading the propellants. The spacecraft 226 00:11:29.799 --> 00:11:33.799 relies on highly toxic chemicals like hydrozene for its thrusters 227 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:36.200 so it can maintain its orientation and orbit. 228 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:38.159 Hydrozene is nasty stuff, right. 229 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:41.919 It is incredibly dangerous. The technicians performing this fueling must 230 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:47.080 wear heavy, fully encapsulated scape suits wait scape suits, yeah, 231 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:52.519 self contained atmospheric protective ensembles because hydrozene vapor is lethal. 232 00:11:53.080 --> 00:11:55.039 Just breathing a tiny amount can be fatal. 233 00:11:55.159 --> 00:11:58.200 Oh wow. Okay, so they're in full hasmag gear fueling 234 00:11:58.240 --> 00:11:58.840 this thing. Yep. 235 00:11:59.080 --> 00:12:01.600 And once the tanks are fueled and the final end 236 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:04.720 to end electrical checks are completed, the observatory will be 237 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:08.120 enclosed in the aerodynamic payload firing and physically made it 238 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:09.320 to the Falcon heavy rocket. 239 00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:11.600 Okay, So when we talk about putting this machine into 240 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:14.600 the firing, we really need to examine the hardware itself. 241 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:17.480 The beating heart of the Roman space telescope is a 242 00:12:17.480 --> 00:12:19.759 two point four meter primary mirror. 243 00:12:19.799 --> 00:12:20.519 That's the core of it. 244 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:23.759 Yeah, and for anyone who follows the history of space exploration, 245 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:28.240 that specific number two point four meters that should trigger 246 00:12:28.279 --> 00:12:32.279 immediate recognition. That is the exact diameter of the primary 247 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:34.600 mirror on the Hubble Space Telescope. 248 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:35.159 The exact same size. 249 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:38.600 Because of this, you constantly hear Roman referred to in 250 00:12:38.600 --> 00:12:43.080 the press as the super Hubble, but from an engineering standpoint, 251 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:45.440 calling it that almost feels like an under sell. 252 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:47.600 I would agree with that. The two point four meter 253 00:12:47.720 --> 00:12:52.039 mirror is a fascinating piece of aerospace heritage. The mirror 254 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:54.639 is identical in size to Hubbles, which, don't get me wrong, 255 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:56.919 is an extraordinary light gathering bucket. 256 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:57.559 Oh for sure. 257 00:12:57.639 --> 00:13:00.000 Hubble has provided us with some of the most profound, 258 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:04.639 deeply moving images in human history. However, its view of 259 00:13:04.679 --> 00:13:08.559 the universe is fundamentally constrained by its optical design. Looking 260 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:11.039 through Hubble is essentially like looking at the night sky 261 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:13.759 through a very long, very narrow soda straw. 262 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:15.000 The soda straw, yeah. 263 00:13:14.840 --> 00:13:17.840 It provides breathtaking, high resolution detail, but only of a 264 00:13:17.879 --> 00:13:22.559 microscopic pinpoint fraction of the sky at any one moment. Roman, conversely, 265 00:13:22.679 --> 00:13:25.600 is built from the ground up for panoramic wide area surveys. 266 00:13:25.799 --> 00:13:27.799 Okay, and this is the exact mechanism I want to 267 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:30.639 break down. If the mirror gathering the light is the 268 00:13:30.679 --> 00:13:33.879 exact same size as Hubbles, why is the picture coming 269 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:35.919 out the other end exponentially larger. 270 00:13:36.120 --> 00:13:38.919 It's all about what happens after the mirror, right. 271 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:41.840 How are the engineers bouncing that light differently to give 272 00:13:41.879 --> 00:13:45.879 us a massive panoramic view, but without sacrificing that razor 273 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:49.279 sharp Hubble like clarity. Here's where it gets really interesting. 274 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:51.600 Yeah, So to understand how they achieve this, we have 275 00:13:51.639 --> 00:13:54.440 to look at the evolution of optical engineering and the 276 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:57.759 way light is manipulated after it hits that primary mirror. 277 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:01.159 Hubble was designed as a cast grain telescope with a 278 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:04.799 very long focal length. It was built specifically to zoom 279 00:14:04.840 --> 00:14:07.000 in tightly on small, distant. 280 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:08.879 Targets, like zooming in with a telephoto lens on a 281 00:14:08.919 --> 00:14:09.879 camera exactly. 282 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:14.279 But Roman employs a completely different optical prescription known as 283 00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:18.200 a three mirror and a stigmatima. Yeah, and the challenge 284 00:14:18.200 --> 00:14:21.080 in any telescope is that a curved mirror naturally creates 285 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:24.720 optical distortions. Light bouncing off the edges of a curved 286 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:28.200 mirror focuses differently than light bouncing off the center, which 287 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:30.360 causes something called spherical aberration. 288 00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:32.720 Okay, so the image gets blurry right. 289 00:14:32.600 --> 00:14:35.639 And off axis light can look stretched or comet shaped, 290 00:14:35.720 --> 00:14:38.200 a flaw known as coma. And then you have a 291 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:40.960 stigmatism where the focal point changes depending on the plane 292 00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:41.799 of the light, just. 293 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:43.279 Like a stigmatism in a human eye. 294 00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:46.960 Very similar. Yes, so Roman uses a complex arrangement of 295 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:51.279 secondary and tertiary mirrors to perfectly correct all three of 296 00:14:51.320 --> 00:14:56.559 these aberrations. Spherical aberration, coma, an astigmatism simultaneously. 297 00:14:57.000 --> 00:14:58.399 That is some serious math. 298 00:14:58.519 --> 00:15:02.440 It's brilliant engineering. But the crucial innovation happens at the 299 00:15:02.440 --> 00:15:04.919 focal plane, the area at the back of the telescope 300 00:15:04.919 --> 00:15:09.360 where the camera sensors sit. Romans optics physically flatten the 301 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:12.639 curved field of light gathered by the primary mirror. They 302 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:16.080 flatten the light, they flatten the focal plane. By flattening 303 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:19.000 that focal plane, engineers can array a massive grid of 304 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:22.799 flat digital detectors across it. This allows Roman to capture 305 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:25.120 a field of view that is roughly one hundred times. 306 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:27.200 Larger than Hubbles one hundred times. 307 00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:30.159 One hundred times. To put that into a visual perspective, 308 00:15:30.279 --> 00:15:32.759 Roman can capture an area of the sky larger than 309 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:35.080 the physical size of the full moon in a single 310 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:40.000 incredibly crisp exposure, maintaining the exact same high resolution clarity 311 00:15:40.039 --> 00:15:43.559 as Hubble across visible and near infrared wavelengths. 312 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:46.639 A single picture that captures an area larger than the 313 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:49.960 full moon. When you consider that it takes Hubble hundreds 314 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:54.799 of individual, painstakingly pointed exposures stitched together over weeks just 315 00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:57.440 to capture a fraction of that area. The scale of 316 00:15:57.519 --> 00:15:58.399 Roman is just. 317 00:15:58.600 --> 00:16:00.519 Staggering changes the game entirely. 318 00:16:00.759 --> 00:16:04.279 But capturing that flattened light requires an incredibly sophisticated net. 319 00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:06.799 To catch it right, you need some serious hardware strapped 320 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:09.000 at the back of those mirrors. That brings us to 321 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:12.679 the actual scientific instruments bolted into the spacecraft, the wide 322 00:16:12.679 --> 00:16:17.240 Field Instrument or the WFI and the chronograph instrument the CGI. 323 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:18.240 The two main war courses. 324 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:21.559 Let's look the main warhourse first, the WFI. The specifications 325 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:24.240 on this thing read like science fiction. We're talking about 326 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:27.879 three hundred megapixel visible and near infrared camera and spectrometer. 327 00:16:28.279 --> 00:16:30.559 It covers wavelengths from point four to eight to two 328 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:32.559 point three micrometers. 329 00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:33.559 Which is a huge range. 330 00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:38.080 It uses eight specific imaging filters, plus things called grism 331 00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:42.200 and prism assemblies for slitless spectroscopy, and the focal plane 332 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:46.360 itself is composed of eighteen H four RG ten detectors. 333 00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:49.720 Yeah, those dense technical specifications are the engine of that 334 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:51.919 super hubble capability we were talking. 335 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:53.159 About, So break those down for us. 336 00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:55.919 Let's start with those eighteen detectors. The H four RG 337 00:16:56.120 --> 00:17:00.000 ten s enswers are the absolute pinnacle of infrared digit 338 00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:04.279 sensing technology. Developed out of advanced material science. They are 339 00:17:04.279 --> 00:17:08.559 made from mercury cadmium telluride mercury cadmium telluride yes, and 340 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:13.160 this specific semiconductor material allows engineers to tune the band gap. 341 00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:14.440 The band gap, what's that? 342 00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:17.079 It's basically the amount of energy required to kick an 343 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:20.039 electron loose and register a signal on the sensor. By 344 00:17:20.119 --> 00:17:23.960 tuning it perfectly, these sensors can detect incredibly faint, low 345 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:25.839 energy infrared. 346 00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:28.400 Photons, so they can see the faintest light possible exactly. 347 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:31.680 But the catch is thermal noise. If the sensor itself 348 00:17:31.720 --> 00:17:33.720 is warm, the heat energy of the sensor will knock 349 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:37.240 electrons loose, creating static that drowns out the faint starlight. 350 00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:39.559 Ah the sensor's own body heat. 351 00:17:39.319 --> 00:17:40.599 Blinds it precisely. 352 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:44.559 That is why the WFI operates at cryogenic temperatures. These 353 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:49.319 eighteen massive detectors, providing three hundred megapixels of resolution, are 354 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:52.559 super cooled to hundreds of degrees below zero. 355 00:17:52.680 --> 00:17:55.680 Wait, okay, so eighteen of these sensors three hundred megapixels 356 00:17:56.079 --> 00:17:59.160 For you listening right now, imagine taping hundreds of top 357 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:03.039 tier smartphone sensors together super cooling them and asking them 358 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:06.839 to count individual photons from billions of light years away. 359 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:09.079 That's a really great way to think about it. And 360 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:12.440 doing that gives Roman a zero point two eight square 361 00:18:12.440 --> 00:18:15.519 degree field of view with an astonishing resolution of point 362 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:16.599 one to one arc seconds. 363 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:19.359 Okay, point one to one arc seconds. How detailed is that? 364 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:21.799 Well? To give you context, an arcsecond is a unit 365 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:24.680 of angular measurement. There are three thousand, six hundred arc 366 00:18:24.680 --> 00:18:25.920 seconds in a single degree. 367 00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:27.839 Oh wow, so a degree is tiny and there's a 368 00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:28.759 fraction of a fraction. 369 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:31.680 Right, Achieving point one to one arc second resolution across 370 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:35.039 a massive, flattened focal plane is mathematically brilliant. It means 371 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:37.960 Roman can take one shot and cleanly resolve the distinct 372 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:41.160 individual structures of billions of stars and galaxies across a 373 00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:42.279 massive swath of space. 374 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:46.799 That is chest, it's wild. So we have an array 375 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:52.799 of super cooled, ultra sensitive sensors cleanly catching billions of photons. 376 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:57.160 But you also mentioned grisms and prisms for slitless spectroscopy. 377 00:18:57.240 --> 00:18:59.880 Yes, the grisms spectroscopy. 378 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:01.359 Is how we determine what things are made of by 379 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:03.920 looking at their light. But what exactly does it mean 380 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:07.319 to do it slitless and frankly, what is agrism? 381 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:07.759 Okay? 382 00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:11.440 So spectroscopy is fundamentally the science of splitting light into 383 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:14.680 its component colors, like a prism, casting a rainbow like 384 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:17.680 the Pink Floyd album cover exactly like that, and by 385 00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:20.519 looking at which specific colors or wave links are missing 386 00:19:20.599 --> 00:19:23.720 from that rainbow, we can tell exactly what chemical elements 387 00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:24.640 the light passed through. 388 00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:26.960 It's like a barcode, yes, a chemical barkote. 389 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:30.240 Traditional spectroscopy in astronomy uses a physical mask with a 390 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:33.079 tiny slit in it. You pourt the telescope, put the 391 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:35.440 target star directly in the slit to block out all 392 00:19:35.480 --> 00:19:38.319 surrounding light and analyze just that one object. 393 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:40.960 Highly precise, but I'm guessing very slow. 394 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:44.519 Incredibly slow. You can only analyze one thing at a time. Agrism, however, 395 00:19:44.680 --> 00:19:47.519 is a hybrid optical element. It's a combination of a 396 00:19:47.559 --> 00:19:49.000 grating and a prism. 397 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:51.720 Grating plus prism equals grism. 398 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:56.680 You got it. In slitless spectroscopy, Roman slides the grism 399 00:19:56.680 --> 00:19:59.400 into the optical path instead of blocking out the sky, 400 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:01.880 the grizzm takes the light from every single star and 401 00:20:01.960 --> 00:20:04.880