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Suggested Citation:"Report ." National Research Council. 1996. On Optimum Phasing for SIRTF: Letter Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12279.
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Suggested Citation:"Report ." National Research Council. 1996. On Optimum Phasing for SIRTF: Letter Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12279.
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Page 2
Suggested Citation:"Report ." National Research Council. 1996. On Optimum Phasing for SIRTF: Letter Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12279.
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Page 3

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

Space Studies Board Jump to Top Search: NewsJump to Science in the Subscribe to our FREE e- Headlines newsletter! 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]

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 Last update 2/10/00 at 11:30 am 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. Subscribe to e-newsletters | Feedback | Back to Top Copyright © 2004. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. 500 Fifth St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001. Terms of Use and Privacy Statement http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/cdva0202.html (2 of 2) [6/18/2004 9:18:42 AM]

Space Studies Board Jump to Top Search: NewsJump to Science in the Subscribe to our FREE e- Headlines newsletter! 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. Subscribe to e-newsletters | Feedback | Back to Top Copyright © 2004. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. 500 Fifth St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001. Terms of Use and Privacy Statement http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/cdva0202mem.html [6/18/2004 9:18:47 AM]

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