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Spitzer Space Telescope

Spitzer Space Telescope

NASA’s Infrared Great Observatory

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Spitzer Foreground

Mission Statistics

Launch Date

Aug. 25, 2003

Type

Orbiter

Target

Stars and Galaxies

Status

Past

About the mission

The Spitzer Space Telescope, launched in 2003, was NASA’s Infrared Great Observatory. Among many other accomplishments in its 16 years of operation, Spitzer discovered a giant ring of Saturn, revealed a system of seven Earth-size planets around a star 40 light-years away, and studied the most distant known galaxies.

In 2009, Spitzer ran out of liquid coolant and began its "warm mission," refocusing its studies on determining how quickly our universe is stretching apart, and characterizing asteroids and the atmospheres of gas-giant planets.

Spitzer operated in its warm mission for over a decade, or about twice the length of its primary mission. On Jan. 30, 2020, engineers decommissioned the spacecraft, bringing the Spitzer mission to a close. It's science legacy lives on via the Spitzer Data Archive.

Instruments

  • Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
  • Infrared Spectrograph (IRS)
  • Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS)

Interactive 3D model of Spitzer. View the full interactive experience at Eyes on the Solar System.

More about Stars and Galaxies

Video .

What's Up - January 2023

News .

NASA Gets Unusually Close Glimpse of Black Hole Snacking on Star

Video .

What's Up - December 2022

News .

VP Harris, French President Get First Look at Galactic Get-Together

News .

Baby Star ‘Burps’ Tell Tales of Frantic Feeding, NASA Data Shows

News .

NASA, ESA Reveal Tale of Death, Dust in Orion Constellation

Video .

What's Up - November 2022

News .

Haunting Portrait: NASA’s Webb Reveals Dust, Structure in Pillars of Creation

News .

NASA Telescope Takes 12-Year Time-Lapse Movie of Entire Sky

News .

Star Duo Forms ‘Fingerprint’ in Space, NASA’s Webb Finds

Spitzer Media Toolkit
Mission Website
Spitzer on Facebook
Spitzer on Twitter
See Spitzer in Real Time Through NASA's Eyes
NASA Pays Tribute, Says Goodbye to One of Agency’s Great Observatories
15 of Spitzer’s Greatest Discoveries
NASA's Spitzer Telescope Celebrates 10 Years in Space
NASA's Spitzer Begins Warm Mission

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ASTHROS

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Cold Atom Laboratory

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