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First Photo From New Space Telescope, SIRTF
By SPACE.com Staff
posted: 06:41 am ET
04 September 2003
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For asapNASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) has returned its first photographs of the cosmos, proving that the orbiting observatory is working properly. The images, one of which was released late Wednesday, are not remarkable as space-based photography goes. But they are highly important to the team of scientists, engineers and other officials running the mission. "We're extremely pleased, because these first images have exceeded our expectations," said Michael Werner, SIRTF project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 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 observatory was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 25. The images were taken as part of an operational test of the infrared array camera, according to a statement. It will take about a month to fully focus and fine-tune the telescope and cool it to optimal operating temperature. The early images are not as sharp or polished as future pictures are expected to be. 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, officials said. In addition to the infrared array camera, a 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. A 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. SIRTF will compliment work done by the Hubble Space Telescope, which also includes an infrared camera.More Deep Space NewsSpace MailbagAstronotes
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