Spitzer IR Telescope "Open For Business"

NASA has renamed the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, its newest space observatory, for the late astronomer Dr. Lyman Spitzer, Jr. The official name is now the Spitzer Space Telescope. The Spitzer Space Telescope program is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for NASA's Office of Space Science in Washington D.C. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. In concert with the renaming, NASA also released the first scientific images from the Spitzer telescope.

The telescope is now online and has already sent back incredible pictures of the great beyond.

The Spitzer telescope was built, integrated and tested at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company facilities in Sunnyvale, California, and was launched on Aug. 25, 2003 from the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Space Systems is also providing mission support for Spitzer spaceflight operations in conjunction with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the California Institute of Technology.

Lyman Spitzer, Jr. (1914-1997) was one of the twentieth century's most renowned scientists, and the first to advance the idea of placing a large telescope in space. After pointing out, in 1946, that a space-based telescope would avoid the blurring effects of Earth's atmosphere, Spitzer devoted the next 50 years of his career to making this vision a reality. His determined efforts led to two successful NASA space telescopes: the Copernicus satellite and the Hubble Space Telescope. He also made significant contributions to the fields of stellar dynamics, the interstellar medium and plasma physics.

"Lyman Spitzer was a personal friend and a great inspiration to me. We congratulate Dr. Spitzer's family on this distinct honor, and applaud NASA on the perfect choice in naming its fourth Great Observatory," said Jim Crocker, vice president, Civil Space at Lockheed Martin Space Systems. "In addition, the images released today from the Spitzer Space Telescope are breathtaking, and we look forward to the many important discoveries to come from this new window on the universe."

FMI: www.spitzer.caltech.edu