ALT This test image captures the very first photons of starlight to reach the Wide Field Instrument on NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. It was taken as an initial performance assessment with the detector array still stowed as it was for launch, far from best focus. Roman’s primary science instrument has opened its eyes to the universe for the first time, revealing a sea of out-of-focus stars, each spread out over many thousands of pixels. The image, which zooms into one detector and zooms again to a single star in the insets, offers a baseline the Roman team will work from to align the telescope’s optics and tune the focus. The team will soon activate the instrument’s fine-guidance system, which will mean Roman can lock onto targets. They’ll also focus the observatory, which will shrink each star’s light to appear as a crisp point, rather than the broad, donut-like features seen here (which appear as expected given the instrument’s present configuration).

ALT The plate attached to the Roman telescope, where a memory card containing names will be attached. It's a tall, thin, rectangular silver plate. At the top of the plate is the stylized Nancy Grace Roman name logo. Below is the silhouette of Roman's 18-square detectors in their iconic arch shape. Text below that reads "NASA's first chief astronomer, Nancy Grace Roman, persevered through barriers and made powerful space telescopes a reality. She envisioned a world where everyone had access to, and enthusiasm for, science. This observatory is the continuation of her legacy and dream." Below the text is an illustration of Dr. Roman looking up, next to her name and the years 1925-2018. Below the years is a small box where the memory card will be affixed. The plate is held down with two large bolts at the top and bottom.