Space Infrared Telescope Facility Lifts Off

Frank O'Donnell (818) 354-7170
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Donald Savage (202) 358-1547
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

News Release: 2003-117
August 25, 2003

Space Infrared Telescope Facility Lifts Off

NASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility successfully launched from
Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 1:35:39 a.m. Eastern
Daylight Time (10:35:39 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, August 24) aboard
a Delta II launch vehicle.

Flying eastward over the Atlantic Ocean, the new observatory entered
an Earth-trailing orbit the first of its kind at about 43 minutes
after launch. Five minutes later, the spacecraft separated from the
Delta's second and final stage. At about 2:28 a.m. Eastern Daylight
Time (11:28 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Aug. 22), 53 minutes after
take-off, the NASA Deep Space Network station in Canberra, Australia
received the first signal from the telescope.

"All systems are operating smoothly, and we couldn't be more
delighted," said David Gallagher, project manager for the mission at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

The last of NASA's suite of Great Observatories, the Space Infrared
Telescope Facility will use infrared detectors to pierce the dusty
darkness enshrouding many of the universe's most fascinating objects,
including brown dwarfs, planet-forming debris discs around stars and
distant galaxies billions of light years away. Past Great
Observatories include the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray
Observatory and Compton Gamma Ray Observatory.

The two-and-one-half to five-year mission is an important bridge to
NASA's Origins Program, which seeks to answer the questions: "Where
did we come from? Are we alone?"

In-orbit checkout and calibration is scheduled to last 60 days,
followed by a 30-day science verification period, after which the
observatory is expected to begin its regular science mission.

For more information about the Space Infrared Telescope Facility,
visit their Web site at http://sirtf.caltech.edu/ .


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