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Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
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NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
June 18, 2004 Current Operating Status
ON OPTIMUM PHASING FOR SIRTF
On February 2, 1996, the Drs. Marc Davis and Marcia Rieke, co-chairs of the
Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics, Dr. David N. Schramm, chair of the
Board on Physics and Astronomy, and Dr. Claude R. Canizares, chair of the Space
Studies Board, sent the following letter to NASA Chief Scientist France Cordova.
Thank you for visiting with the Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics (CAA) at
its September 1995 meeting. We appreciated your remarks on educating the
public. This letter is in response to your question about optimum phasing for the
Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) with respect to operation of the other
Great Observatories. We are basing our comments on the current NASA plan,
according to which operation of the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF)
will cease in late 2003 and that of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in 2005. The
CAA considered this question at its meeting and afterward concluded the following
points.
As you know, SIRTF will be able to detect sources several orders of magnitude
fainter than those detected by any previous infrared mission. We anticipate
discoveries that can only be guessed at now. Although a number of important
questions remain regarding variable sources that would be addressed most
effectively by using all of the Great Observatories simultaneously, the greatest
need is to ensure use of AXAF and HST to observe sources revealed by SIRTF's
deep surveys.
To the extent possible, the astronomical community will optimize the SIRTF
surveys so that areas on the sky previously observed by AXAF and HST are re-
observed in the infrared without the need for any special time overlap between the
missions. But because SIRTF will observe a larger volume of space than the other
two observatories, the greatest scientific payoff will be realized by pursuing a
strategy that allows as much time as possible for analyzing SIRTF data before
AXAF or HST operation ceases. A year is the minimum amount of time needed to
ensure that the sources requiring short-wavelength follow-up are identified and
then scheduled for observation with AXAF and HST. A year is needed not only to
understand the output of SIRTF but also to ensure that viewing constraints will not
preclude pointing of the other observatories at the newly discovered sources. Thus,
http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/cdva0202.html (1 of 2) [6/18/2004 9:18:42 AM]
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Space Studies Board
a SIRTF launch early in 2002, or preferably earlier, would be optimum. We further
note that SIRTF data could be analyzed, at least in a preliminary fashion, on a
more accelerated schedule than currently envisioned, but this could drive up the
mission cost.
Please call on the CAA for any further advice that you might need on NASA space
astronomy and astrophysics missions.
CAA Membership
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NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
June 18, 2004 Current Operating Status
ON OPTIMUM PHASING FOR SIRTF
Membership
COMMITTEE ON ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
Marc Davis, University of California at Berkeley, Co-Chair
Marcia J. Rieke, University of Arizona, Co-Chair
Leo Blitz, University of Maryland
Arthur F. Davidsen, Johns Hopkins University
Wendy L. Freedman, Carnegie Observatories
Jonathan E. Grindlay, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
John P. Huchra, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Kenneth I. Kellermann, National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Richard A. McCray, University of Colorado at Boulder
Robert Rosner, University of Chicago
Bernard Sadoulet, University of California at Berkeley
Robert L. Riemer, Study Director
Anne K. Simmons, Senior Program Assistant
Last update 2/10/00 at 12:05 pm
Site managed by Anne Simmons, Space Studies Board
Site managed by the SSB Web Group.
To comment on this Web page or report an error, please send feedback to the Space Studies Board.
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Copyright © 2004. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. 500 Fifth St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001.
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