JPL
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
JPL Logo
JPL Logo
Stars and Galaxies
.

NASA's Spitzer Begins Warm Mission

May 15, 2009
Artist's concept of Spitzer Space Telescope

After more than five-and-a-half years of probing the cool cosmos, Spitzer has run out of the coolant that kept its infrared instruments chilled.

Spitzer Space Telescope Mission Status

PASADENA, Calif. -- After more than five-and-a-half years of probing the cool cosmos, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has run out of the coolant that kept its infrared instruments chilled. The telescope will warm up slightly, yet two of its infrared detector arrays will still operate successfully. The new, warm mission will continue to unveil the far, cold and dusty universe.

Spitzer entered standby mode at 3:11 p.m. Pacific Time (6:11 p.m. Eastern Time or 22:11 Universal Time), May 15, as result of running out of its liquid helium coolant. Scientists and engineers will spend the next few weeks recalibrating the instrument at the warmer temperature, and preparing it to begin science operations.

Additional information, including the following items, is at: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/news/spitzer-warm.html .
--A full news release about Spitzer's warm mission and past accomplishments
--A mock interview titled "If Spitzer Could Talk: An Interview with NASA's Coolest Space Mission"
--A video about the Spitzer mission
--An article about the late astronomer Lyman Spitzer, the mission's namesake

Detailed information about the Spitzer mission at http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzer and http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer

Who's Who of the Spitzer mission:
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Spitzer mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver, and Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colo., support mission and science operations. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., built Spitzer's infrared array camera; the instrument's principal investigator was Giovanni Fazio of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. built Spitzer's infrared spectrograph; its principal investigator was Jim Houck of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. and the University of Arizona in Tucson, built the multiband imaging photometer for Spitzer; its principal investigator was George Rieke of the University of Arizona.
› Spitzer home page

News Media Contact

Whitney Clavin

Caltech

626-395-1944

wclavin@caltech.edu

2009-086

Related News

Stars and Galaxies .

Brightest Cosmic Explosion Ever Detected Had Other Unique Features

Stars and Galaxies .

NASA’s Chandra, Webb Telescopes Combine for Arresting Views

Exoplanets .

NASA’s Spitzer, TESS Find Potentially Volcano-Covered Earth-Size World

Exoplanets .

NASA’s Webb Takes Closest Look Yet at Mysterious Planet

Stars and Galaxies .

Caught in the Act: Astronomers Detect a Star Devouring a Planet

Solar System .

NASA’s Voyager Will Do More Science With New Power Strategy

Stars and Galaxies .

NASA Study Helps Explain Limit-Breaking Ultra-Luminous X-Ray Sources

Stars and Galaxies .

NASA’s Webb Telescope Captures Rarely Seen Prelude to Supernova

Stars and Galaxies .

NASA’s Webb Reveals Intricate Networks of Gas, Dust in Nearby Galaxies

Stars and Galaxies .

NASA Gets Unusually Close Glimpse of Black Hole Snacking on Star

Explore More

Mission .

SPHEREx

Video .

What's Up - May 2023

Mission .

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

Image .

Magnetic Fields Around an Ultraluminous X-ray Source (Illustration)

Video .

What's Up - April 2023

Mission .

ASTHROS

Video .

What's Up - March 2023

Mission .

Euclid

Image .

Three-Telescope View of the Sun

Video .

What's Up - February 2023

About JPL
Who We Are
Executive Council
Directors
Careers
Internships
The JPL Story
JPL Achievements
Documentary Series
Annual Reports
JPL Plan: 2023-2026
Missions
Current
Past
Future
All
News
All
Earth
Solar System
Stars and Galaxies
Subscribe to JPL News
Galleries
Images
Videos
Audio
Podcasts
Apps
Visions of the Future
Slice of History
Robotics at JPL
Events
Lecture Series
Team Competitions
Speakers Bureau
Calendar
Visit
Public Tours
Virtual Tour
Directions and Maps
Topics
JPL Life
Solar System
Mars
Earth
Climate Change
Exoplanets
Stars and Galaxies
Robotics
More
Asteroid Watch
NASA's Eyes Visualizations
Universe - Internal Newsletter
Social Media
Get the Latest from JPL
Follow Us

JPL is a federally funded research and development center managed for NASA by Caltech.

More from JPL
Careers Education Science & Technology Acquisitions JPL Store
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
Acquisitions
JPL Store
Related NASA Sites
Basics of Spaceflight
Climate Kids
Earth / Global Climate Change
Exoplanet Exploration
Mars Exploration
Solar System Exploration
Space Place
NASA's Eyes Visualization Project
Voyager Interstellar Mission
NASA
Caltech
Privacy
Image Policy
FAQ
Feedback
Site Managers: Veronica McGregor, Randal Jackson
Site Editors: Tony Greicius, Naomi Hartono
CL#: 21-0018