Spitzer Space Telescope
Description
The Spitzer Space Telescope (formerly SIRTF, the Space Infrared Telescope Facility) is a 0.85-meter telescope with three cryogenically cooled instruments, operating in the 3 - 180 micron range. The observatory is the final element in NASA's Great Observatories Program. The science capabilities include imaging/photometry at 3 - 180 microns, spectroscopy at 5 - 40 microns, and spectrophotometry at 50 - 100 microns. Spitzer will study a wide variety of astronomical phenomena, extending from our Solar System to the distant reaches of the early Universe. In 2009, Spitzer's supply of liquid helium, used to cool instrumentation was exhausted. At that point many of the missions tools were rendered inoperable. However, Spitzer continues today with its "warm" mission. The spacecraft consists of an octagonal bus structure, and a solar array to power the science instruments. The pointing control subsystem employs a celestial-inertial, three-axis stabilized control system. Spitzer has an Earth-trailing Heliocentric orbit. The Spitzer telescope is a lightweight reflector of Ritchey-Chrétien design. The telescope has an 85 cm diameter aperture. The instruments selected include: 1) a four-channel infrared array camera imaging at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8 microns. 2) an imaging photometer, with three detector arrays imaging at 24, 70, and 160 microns (one array will also take low-resolution spectra at 50 - 100 microns); 3) a spectrograph providing high- and low-resolution spectroscopy at mid-infrared wavelengths (5 - 40 microns). (NASA - National Space Science Data Center) |
Links
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu Facts Spectrum Studied: Infrared Launch Date: 2003-08-25 Status: Still Operational Orbital Location: Solar Orbit (0.98 to 1.02 AU) Launch Vehicle: Delta 7920H ELVLaunch Site: Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida Mass: 865 kg Funding Agency NASA-Office of Space Science (United States) |