Paper
5 March 2003 Operating SIRTF for maximum lifetime
Charles R. Lawrence, Peter Eisenhardt, Jan G. Emming, Paul T. Finley, Thomas Nicholas Gautier III, George Helou, Richard A. Hopkins, Gregory B. Johnson, Jocelyn Keene, Johnny H. Kwok, Jeff H. Lee, Stephen J. Nieczkoski, Thomas L. Roellig, Russell B. Schweickart
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
The instruments of the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) are cooled directly by liquid helium, while the optical system is cooled by helium vapor. The greater the power dissipation into the liquid helium, the more vapor is produced, and the colder the telescope. Observations at shorter wavelengths do not require telescope temperatures as low as those required at shorter wavelengths. By taking advantage of this, it may be possible to extend the helium and mission lifetime by 10% or even 20%
© (2003) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Charles R. Lawrence, Peter Eisenhardt, Jan G. Emming, Paul T. Finley, Thomas Nicholas Gautier III, George Helou, Richard A. Hopkins, Gregory B. Johnson, Jocelyn Keene, Johnny H. Kwok, Jeff H. Lee, Stephen J. Nieczkoski, Thomas L. Roellig, and Russell B. Schweickart "Operating SIRTF for maximum lifetime", Proc. SPIE 4850, IR Space Telescopes and Instruments, (5 March 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.461953
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Cited by 2 scholarly publications.
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KEYWORDS
Telescopes

Helium

Infrared telescopes

Space telescopes

Liquids

Thermal modeling

Aerospace engineering

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