NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, has achieved a major milestone with the installation of the LSST Camera on the telescope. With the final optical component in place, Rubin enters the last phase of testing before capturing long-awaited and highly-anticipated First Look images, followed by the start of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).

In early March, the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory team on Cerro Pachón in Chile lifted the car-sized LSST Camera into position on the Simonyi Survey Telescope. This milestone is a significant step forward in the decades-long story of the LSST Camera's design, construction, and transport to Chile.

Rubin Observatory is jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. Rubin is a joint Program of NSF NOIRLab and DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, who will cooperatively operate Rubin.

“The installation of the LSST Camera on the telescope is a triumph of science and engineering,” said Harriet Kung, Acting Director of the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. “We look forward to seeing the unprecedented images this camera will produce.”