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On-Orbit Performance of the Spitzer Space TelescopeThe Spitzer Space Telescope (formally known as SIRTF) was successfully launched on August 25, 2003, and has completed its initial in-orbit checkout and science validation and calibration period. The measured performance of the observatory has met or exceeded all of its high-level requirements, it has entered normal operations, and is beginning to return high-quality science data. A superfluid-helium cooled 85 cm diameter telescope provides extremely low infrared backgrounds and feeds three science instruments covering wavelengths ranging from 3.2 to 180 microns. The telescope optical quality is excellent, providing diffraction-limited performance down to wavelengths below 6.5 microns. Based on the first helium mass and boil-off rate measurements, a cryogenic lifetime in excess of 5 years is expected. This presentation will provide a summary of the overall performance of the observatory, with an emphasis on those performance parameters that have the greatest impact on its ultimate science return.
Document ID
20040086905
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Roellig, Thomas
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Werner, Michael
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Gallagher, David
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Irace, William
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Fazio, Giovanni
(Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Cambridge, MA, United States)
Houck, James
(Cornell Univ. Ithaca, NY, United States)
Rieke, George
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Wilson, Robert
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Soifer, Thomas
(California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
March 15, 2004
Subject Category
Astronomy
Meeting Information
Meeting: SPIE Conference on Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 2004
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Country: United Kingdom
Start Date: June 21, 2004
End Date: June 25, 2004
Sponsors: International Society for Optical Engineering
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 21-456-06-1R
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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