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By Space Force
The Department of the Air Force launched its Pacific-focused first-in-a-generation Department-Level Exercise series today in multiple locations across the United States and Indo-Pacific areas of responsibility.
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By Space Force
Ahead of the movie's theatrical release, Disney/Pixar invited military families to special screenings across the country, including at an event hosted by the Motion Picture Association in Washington, D.C.
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By NASA
NASA/Kevin O’Brien NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) solid rocket boosters are the largest, most powerful solid propellant boosters to ever fly. Standing 17 stories tall and burning approximately six tons of propellant every second, each booster generates 3.6 million pounds of a thrust for a total of 7.2 million pounds: more thrust than 14 four-engine jumbo commercial airliners. Together, the SLS twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total thrust at launch. Each booster houses eight booster separation motors which are responsible for separating the boosters from the core stage during flight.
At the top of each booster is the frustum—a truncated cone-shaped structure that, along with the nose cone, forms the aerodynamic fairing. This frustum houses four of the separation motors, while the remaining four are located at the bottom within the aft skirt.
Image Credit: NASA/Kevin O’Brien
For more information on the Artemis Campaign, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/artemis/
News Media Contact
Jonathan Deal
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
jonathan.e.deal@nasa.gov
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By NASA
The core portion of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has successfully completed vibration testing, ensuring it will withstand the extreme shaking experienced during launch. Passing this key milestone brings Roman one step closer to helping answer essential questions about the role of dark energy and other cosmic mysteries.
“The test could be considered as powerful as a pretty severe earthquake, but there are key differences,” said Cory Powell, the Roman lead structural analyst at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Unlike an earthquake, we sweep through our frequencies one at a time, starting with very low-level amplitudes and gradually increasing them while we check everything along the way. It’s a very complicated process that takes extraordinary effort to do safely and efficiently.”
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This video shows the core components of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope undergoing a vibration test at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The test ensures this segment of the observatory will withstand the extreme shaking associated with launch. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center The team simulated launch conditions as closely as possible. “We performed the test in a flight-powered configuration and filled the propulsion tanks with approximately 295 gallons of deionized water to simulate the propellent loading on the spacecraft during launch,” said Joel Proebstle, who led this test, at NASA Goddard. This is part of a series of tests that ratchet up to 125 percent of the forces the observatory will experience.
This milestone is the latest in a period of intensive testing for the nearly complete Roman Space Telescope, with many major parts coming together and running through assessments in rapid succession. Roman currently consists of two major assemblies: the inner, core portion (telescope, instrument carrier, two instruments, and spacecraft) and the outer portion (outer barrel assembly, solar array sun shield, and deployable aperture cover).
Now, having completed vibration testing, the core portion will return to the large clean room at Goddard for post-test inspections. They’ll confirm that everything remains properly aligned and the high-gain antenna can deploy. The next major assessment for the core portion will involve additional tests of the electronics, followed by a thermal vacuum test to ensure the system will operate as planned in the harsh space environment.
This video highlights some of the important hardware milestones as NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope moves closer to completion. The observatory is almost fully assembled, currently built up into two large pieces: the inner portion (telescope, instrument carrier, two instruments, and spacecraft) and outer portion (outer barrel assembly, solar array sun shield, and deployable aperture cover). This video shows the testing these segments have undergone between February and May 2025. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center In the meantime, Goddard technicians are also working on Roman’s outer portion. They installed the test solar array sun shield, and this segment then underwent its own thermal vacuum test, verifying it will control temperatures properly in the vacuum of space. Now, technicians are installing the flight solar panels to this outer part of the observatory.
The team is on track to connect Roman’s two major assemblies in November, resulting in a whole observatory by the end of the year that will then undergo final tests. Roman remains on schedule for launch by May 2027, with the team aiming for as early as fall 2026.
Click here to virtually tour an interactive version of the telescope The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is managed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, with participation by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California; Caltech/IPAC in Pasadena, California; the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore; and a science team comprising scientists from various research institutions. The primary industrial partners are BAE Systems Inc. in Boulder, Colorado; L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York; and Teledyne Scientific & Imaging in Thousand Oaks, California.
By Ashley Balzer
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Jun 04, 2025 Related Terms
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Goddard Space Flight Center Technology The Universe Explore More
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By Space Force
The Department of the Air Force has opened a public comment period to detail recent updates to the background and methodology for Support of Military Families 2025 scorecards for spouse employment and public education surrounding DAF installations.
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