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Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 December 19 Inside the Elephant's Trunk Credit: W. Reach (SSC/Caltech) et al., JPL, Caltech, NASA Explanation: Spectacular first images from the newly christened Spitzer Space Telescope include this penetrating interior view of an otherwise opaque dark globule known as the Elephant's Trunk Nebula. Seen in a composite of infrared image data recorded by Spitzer's instruments, the intriguing region is embedded within the glowing emission nebula IC 1396...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 September 5 SIRTF Streak Credit & Copyright: Ben Cooper Explanation: Streaking skyward, a Boeing Delta 2-Heavy rocket carries NASA's Space InfraRed Telescope Facility (SIRTF) aloft during the early morning hours of August 25th. The dramatic scene was recorded in a time exposure from the pier in Jetty Park at the northern end of Cocoa Beach, Florida, about 2.5 miles from the Cape Canaveral launch site. SIRTF (sounds...

SIRTF set to scour skies for infrared traces of galaxy formation. NASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) is scheduled to launch early on Monday morning, after more than 20 years of planning. The orbiting observatory will look for infrared traces of the Universe's history. It will peer through shrouds of cosmic dust and gas deep into the murky cradles of star birth in our own and distant galaxies. "It's tremendously exciting, having been working on the project for 20 years - now its time to get it launched and do the science," says Tom Soifer, director of the SIRTF Science...

Press Release Source: Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company Lockheed Martin Space Systems Delivers NASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility to Kennedy Space Center for April LaunchFriday March 7, 2:01 pm ET SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) has completed integration, testing and prelaunch checkout at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, California, and has been delivered to the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida for an April 2003 launch. SIRTF's Cryogenic Telescope Assembly, which includes the scientific instruments, was built by Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colo., and was delivered to Space Systems in Sunnyvale...