Caldwell Internet Express
  Caldwell Internet Express
     4307 Vergie Avenue
 Beltsville, MD 20705-1511		  Voice:(301) 937-1891
    Fax:(301) 937-1934
EMAIL jody@calix.com

Please support these pages by visiting our sponsor!

[Prev][Next][Index]

NASA Starts Work on New Space Infrared Telescope Facility

Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC                March 25, 1998
(Phone:  202/358-1727)

Mary Beth Murrill
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
(Phone:  818/354-6478)

RELEASE:  98-49

NASA STARTS WORK ON NEW SPACE INFRARED TELESCOPE FACILITY

       NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin today authorized the 
start of work on the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), 
an advanced orbiting observatory that will give astronomers 
unprecedented views of phenomena in the universe that are 
invisible to other types of telescopes.

       The authorization signals the start of the design and 
development phase of the SIRTF project, which is managed by 
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA. Scheduled 
for launch in December 2001 on a Delta 7920-H rocket from Cape 
Canaveral, FL, SIRTF represents the culmination of more than a 
decade of planning and design to develop an infrared space 
telescope with high sensitivity, low cost and long lifetime of 
at least two-and-a-half to as many as five years.

       "The Space Infrared Telescope Facility will do for 
infrared astronomy what the Hubble Space Telescope has done in 
its unveiling of the visible universe, and it will do it 
faster, better and cheaper than its predecessors," said Dr. 
Wesley Huntress, NASA's associate administrator for space 
science.  "By sensing the heat given off by objects in space, 
this new observatory will see behind the cosmic curtains of 
dust particles that obscure much of the visible universe.  We 
will be able to study fetal stars, detect other solar systems 
and study the most ancient, distant galaxies at the edge of the 
universe."

       Conventional optical telescopes can study stars and 
other objects that glow brightly enough to emit light in the 
visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.  However, many 
objects, such as planets and unignited stars, do not "shine" in 
visible or ultraviolet light.  Others that may burn brightly 
are veiled from Earth's view behind the vast clouds of dust and 
gas that populate the universe. 

        Some of the most fascinating objects and processes in 
the universe may exist behind these cosmic curtains of dust and 
gas, such as black holes, quasars, regions where stars are 
forming in galaxies and regions where planets are forming 
around stars.  Most of these concealed attractions are 
detectable only with infrared telescopes, whose unique 
capability lies in their ability to sense the heat of dark, 
faint or hidden objects. 

       Infrared telescopes also provide the means to study the 
most distant objects at the edge of the expanding universe.  
Optical and ultraviolet light emitted from stars, galaxies and 
quasars since the birth of the universe has shifted, over time 
and distance, into the infrared portion of the spectrum.  SIRTF 
will provide important insights into when and how the first 
galaxies and stars formed.

       SIRTF, whose design and development is cost-capped at 
$458 million, will be one of astronomyÕs most advanced 
telescopes.  Its unconventional approach uses new technologies, 
an innovative mission design and small launch vehicle.   It is 
being developed on a quick schedule that closely integrates the 
work of the contractor and academic teams responsible for 
development and delivery.  Its design promises high sensitivity 
and observing capability along with efficiency of operations 
and long lifetime.

       SIRTF is the fourth and final element in NASA's family 
of complementary spaceborne "Great Observatories" that includes 
the Hubble Space Telescope, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory 
and the Advanced X-ray Telescope Facility.  The project also 
represents a bridge to NASA's new Origins program, which seeks 
to answer fundamental questions about the birth and evolution 
of the universe.  SIRTF will lay the groundwork for many 
investigations fundamental to the Origins program, such as 
studies of the birth and evolution of galaxies, their stars, 
and searches for planets that orbit some of those stars. 

       Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space, Sunnyvale, CA, is 
responsible for the spacecraft and for the SIRTF system 
integration and testing.  Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., 
Boulder, CO, is responsible for the cryogenic telescope 
assembly.  The three science instruments are being provided by 
Dr. Giovanni Fazio, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Dr. 
James Houck, Cornell University and Dr. George Rieke, 
University of Arizona.  The SIRTF Science Center, at the 
California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, CA, 
will receive the date from JPL and process it, and work with 
the astronomy community.  Astronomers around the world are 
invited to request observing time on SIRTF.

      SIRTF is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space 
Science, Washington DC.  Larry Simmons of JPL is the project 
manager.  The project scientist at JPL is Dr. Michael Werner.  
At NASA Headquarters, the SIRTF program executive is Lia 
LaPiana.  JPL is a division of Caltech.  More information about 
SIRTF and other infrared astronomy projects can be found at:

                http://sirtf.jpl.nasa.gov/sirtf/ 

and 

                 http://www.ipac.caltech.edu 

                         - end -