Spitzer Space Telescope mission design

Johnny H. Kwok; Mark D. Garcia; Eugene Bonfiglio; Stacia M. Long

doi:10.1117/12.551598

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12 October 2004 Spitzer Space Telescope mission design

Johnny H. Kwok, Mark D. Garcia, Eugene Bonfiglio, Stacia M. Long

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Proceedings Volume 5487, Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Space Telescopes; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.551598
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2004, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Abstract

This paper gives a description of the mission design, launch, orbit, and navigation results for the Spitzer space telescope mission. The Spitzer telescope was launched by the Delta II Heavy launch vehicle into a heliocentric Earth trailing orbit. This orbit is flown for the first time and will be used by several future astronomical missions such as Kepler, SIM, and LISA. This paper describes the launch strategy for a winter versus a summer launch and how it affects communications. It also describes how the solar orbit affects the design and operations of the Observatory. It describes the actual launch timeline, launch vehicle flight performance, and the long term behavior of the as flown orbit. It also provides the orbit knowledge from in-flight navigation data.

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Johnny H. Kwok, Mark D. Garcia, Eugene Bonfiglio, and Stacia M. Long "Spitzer Space Telescope mission design", Proc. SPIE 5487, Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Space Telescopes, (12 October 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.551598

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