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Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington                      March 25, 2003
(Phone: 202/358-1547)

Jane Platt
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif.
(Phone: 818/354-0880)

RELEASE: 03-111

SPACE OBSERVATORY TO STUDY THE OLD, THE COLD AND THE DUSTY

     A NASA observatory will soon open a new window to the 
universe. By using infrared technology to study celestial 
objects, which are either too cool, too dust-enshrouded or 
too far away to otherwise be seen, NASA's Space Infrared 
Telescope Facility (SIRTF), will pierce the thick dust that 
permeates the universe.

From its Earth-trailing orbit around the sun, SIRTF, set to 
launch on April 18, will unveil new information about 
galaxies, stars, and dusty discs around nearby stars, which 
may be "planetary construction zones."

"The Space Infrared Telescope Facility will complete NASA's 
suite of Great Observatories, a program that includes three 
previous missions that studied the universe with visible 
light, X-rays and gamma rays," said Dr. Ed Weiler, NASA's 
associate administrator for space science. "Many cosmic 
objects produce radiation over a wide range of wavelengths, 
so it's important to get the whole picture," he said. The 
three previous Great Observatories are the Hubble Space 
Telescope, Compton Gamma Ray, and Chandra X-ray 
Observatories.

By studying the structure and composition of dusty planet-
forming discs around stars, SIRTF will aid the search for 
Earth-like planets that may harbor life. This makes it a 
cornerstone of NASA's Origins Program, which seeks to answer 
the questions, "Where did we come from? Are we alone?"

Infrared detectors can see longer wavelengths than the red 
light visible to our eyes. As the universe expands, 
starlight from distant galaxies is shifted from blue to red 
and, ultimately, into the infrared. Most radiation emitted 
by stars, galaxies and other objects in the early universe 
now lies in the infrared. The SIRTF will enable scientists 
to look farther back in space and time than was previously 
possible.

"With this mission, we will see the universe as it was 
billions of years ago, helping us pinpoint how and when the 
first objects formed, as well as their composition," said 
Dr. Anne Kinney, director of the astronomy and physics 
division at NASA Headquarters.

"The observatory will give us a better understanding of the 
universe and our place within it," said Dr. Michael Werner, 
the mission's project scientist at JPL. "For example, 
interstellar space has lots of carbon-rich organic 
molecules. Understanding these may illuminate the processes 
by which life formed," he said.

During its two-and-one-half to five-year mission, the SIRTF 
will also study brown dwarfs, or cool, "failed stars." Some 
scientists think brown dwarfs may account for some or all of 
the elusive "dark matter" thought to be prevalent in the 
universe. The mission will also study planets in our own 
solar system, asteroids and comets.

The observatory's telescope has three science instruments. 
The infrared array camera is a general-purpose camera for 
near-to- mid-infrared wavelengths. The infrared spectrograph 
breaks light into its various wavelengths, much like a 
prism, to help astronomers study the composition of cosmic 
objects. The multi-band imaging photometer will gather 
pictures and limited spectroscopic data at far-infrared 
wavelengths to study cool, dusty objects.

The spacecraft features several technological breakthroughs, 
and the out-of-the-ordinary mission design will pay 
dividends as well. "The innovations have substantially 
reduced mission development costs," said Project Manager 
Dave Gallagher at JPL. "For example, the mission's Earth-
trailing orbit simplifies scheduling and operations. Because 
the telescope detects heat from relatively cool objects, we 
have to keep it extremely cold. We've found a more efficient 
way to cool the telescope and slash the amount of liquid 
helium the observatory must carry," Gallagher said. The 
mission's technologies and science discoveries will help 
enable future Origins missions, such as the James Webb Space 
Telescope and Terrestrial Planet Finder.

JPL manages the SIRTF mission for NASA's Office of Space 
Science, Washington, and conducts flight operations. NASA's 
Goddard Space Flight Center is responsible for building the 
Infrared Array Camera. The SIRTF Science Center at the 
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena will handle all 
aspects of science operations, including data processing. 
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Sunnyvale, Calif., is 
responsible for spacecraft design and development, 
observatory systems engineering, integration and testing. 
Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation, Boulder, Colo., 
is responsible for the design and development of the cryo-
telescope assembly, integration of the science instrument 
cold assemblies into the cryostat, and is subcontractor for 
two science instruments. For more information about SIRTF on 
the Internet, visit:

http://sirtf.caltech.edu

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