From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4_at_msn.com)
Date: Wed Sep 03 2003 - 13:27:48 PDT
----- Original Message -----
From: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2003 4:25 PM
To: ljk4_at_msn.com
Subject: Space Infrared Telescope Facility Mission Status
MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
Jane Platt (818) 354-0880
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Donald Savage (202) 358-1727
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
News Release: 2003-120
September 3, 2003
Space Infrared Telescope Facility Mission Status
NASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility has switched on two of its
onboard instruments and captured some preliminary star-studded images.
The space observatory was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on
August 25.
The images were taken as part of an operational test of the infrared
array camera. It will take about a month to fully focus and fine-tune
the telescope and cool it to optimal operating temperature, so these
early images will not be as sharp or polished as future pictures.
"We're extremely pleased, because these first images have exceeded our
expectations," said Dr. Michael Werner, the Space Infrared Telescope
Facility project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif. "We can't wait to see the images and spectra we'll
get once the telescope is cooled down and instruments are working at
full capacity."
The most striking image is available on the Internet at the following
websites:
http://sirtf.caltech.edu/news/releases/ssc2003-03/
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04724
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/starsgalaxies/sirtf_alive.html .
The telescope's dust cover was ejected on Aug. 29, and its aperture
door opened on Aug. 30. The spacecraft is operating in normal mode,
and all systems are operating nominally. The team is very pleased
with the rapid progress of the observatory and all of its onboard
systems, said Project Manager David Gallagher of JPL.
In addition to the infrared array camera, the multi-band imaging
photometer instrument was also switched on for the first time in a
successful engineering test. The spacecraft's pointing calibration and
reference sensor detected light from a star cluster. The third
instrument, the infrared spectrograph, will be turned on later this
month.
These operations are part of the mission's two-month in-orbit
checkout, which will be followed by a one-month science verification
phase. After that, the science mission will begin a quest to study
galaxies, stars and other celestial objects, and to look for possible
planetary construction zones in dusty discs around other stars.
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena,
manages the Space Infrared Telescope Facility for NASA's Office of
Space Science, Washington, D.C. More information about the Space
Infrared Telescope Facility is available at http://sirtf.caltech.edu/
. For more information about NASA on the Internet, visit
http://www.nasa.gov http://www.nasa.gov/ .
-end-
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