1986•Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIERequires access
Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) Observatory Design
W. F. Brooks, Ramsey K. Melugin, J. H. Lee, L. G. Lemke
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Abstract
The Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) is a one meter class cryogenically cooled infrared observatory under study by NASA for launch and operation in the mid 1990's. It operates in the spectral range 2-700 µm and represents a factor of over 1000 increase in sensitivity over the first NASA IR space mission, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) . SIRTF will be the first true infrared observatory in space and is complementary in wavelength coverage and comparable in sensitivity to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO) and the Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) missions. such, it is considered part of the great observatories program being developed by NASA .