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Spitzer Liquid He
stevesliva
post Apr 2 2010, 08:34 PM
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First I've heard of Spitzer Warm Mission results, a sort of Spitzer-does-Kepler:
http://news.discovery.com/space/spitzer-sh...baby-stars.html

QUOTE
The best thing about Spitzer's new "Warm Mission" is that it can observe the same location for very long periods of time. The space telescope is carrying out the "Young Stellar Object Variability" program and has been watching the same region for 40 days, sending back 80 images. Another long observing campaign is planned for the end of 2010.

The advantage of keeping a watchful eye on this star-forming region is that the brightness of Orion's baby stars change rapidly, so the longer you watch, the more variability you see.
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stevesliva
post Jan 9 2020, 02:47 AM
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QUOTE (MahFL @ May 7 2009, 07:42 AM) *
Can anyone tell us how long Spitzer might operate for in its "warm" mission ?


About 10.5 years, it turns out. (Am I allowed to quote to same question every other decade?)

Here's a countdown clock for the Jan 30th decommissioning:
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/final-voyage

6002 days in space.
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brellis
post Feb 2 2020, 04:44 PM
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JPL News Release
Spitzer has been put into Safe Mode, mission declared complete. One assumes it will remain in its earth-trailing orbit indefinitely?

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stevesliva
post May 18 2023, 07:15 PM
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I have seen a couple of headlines on this pass by in my various headline-serving algorithms:
https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/05/a-pri...at-observatory/

What I gather is that it will keep station with Spitzer, and just act as a communications relay. That seems especially dumb (?) ... seeing the headlines I was thinking it'd bring some liquid helium or something. Pretty limited ROI if it's just to communicate.
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nprev
post May 18 2023, 11:12 PM
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Seems like a tech demo mission above all else, and that restoring comm with Spitzer by acting as a relay spacecraft to continue 'warm' operations would really just be a bonus. No attempt would be made to load He or anything else.


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marsbug
post May 19 2023, 10:48 PM
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Actually I've been wondering about this: There articles my own algorithms have sent me have been light on details, but one quote that caught my eye:

QUOTE
"The ISAM implications of resurrecting Spitzer are jaw-dropping," said Shawn Usman, Astrophysicist and CEO of Rhea Space Activity. "This would be the most complex robotic mission ever performed by humanity. As a teenager in the 1990s, I watched U.S. astronauts repair the first Great Observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and now Rhea Space Activity has been given the opportunity to telerobotically extend the life of the last Great Observatory, the Spitzer Space Telescope. I am humbled to have Dr. Giovanni Fazio, the Principal Investigator of Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC), as a Co-Investigator on this ambitious mission."
From here: https://phys.org/news/2023-05-nasa-resurrec...-telescope.html

It definitely confirms it won't dock or load He, but "most complex robotic mission ever attempted by humanity" doesn't sound like it's just going to loiter and at as a relay....


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stevesliva
post May 20 2023, 03:35 AM
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The other thing ... JWST is operational, and covers (without liquid He) the shorter wavelengths that "warm Spitzer" also covered. Again, more warm Spitzer seems even less indicated.

OTOH, Google seems to indicate cold Spitzer observed longer wavelengths than JWST, so getting cold Spitzer back after all these years would be a helluva thing.
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nprev
post May 20 2023, 06:10 AM
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That 'most complex' quote is from a company representative, so there's obviously a bit of...er....poetic license being taken there. rolleyes.gif

The article also cites high demand for JWST time as a rationale, which makes perfect sense. There are a number of long-term but arguably lower-priority requirements from JWST's perspective that Spitzer could do instead, to say nothing of things like ongoing Solar System small body detection. Hope they do it.


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StargazeInWonder
post May 20 2023, 07:10 AM
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I'll note here that the temperature in the permanently-shaded portions of lunar polar craters is about the same as Spitzer's operational cold temperature. For the purposes of long staring at deep fields off the ecliptic, a lunar polar observatory would seem like a good option, and wouldn't require any finite resources to maintain the temperature. Of course, a lot of the sky would be unobservable.
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siravan
post May 20 2023, 02:11 PM
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Sending an IR telescope to the permanently shaded lunar south pole solves one problem but adds many other problems. Besides the whole issue with landing, one major concern is how to power it. By definition, solar panels won't work, and using RTGs negates the whole benefit of being in a cold region. Another issue is communication. You probably need relay satellites in polar or molniya-like (if this is even possible for the moon) orbits.
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nprev
post May 20 2023, 07:12 PM
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Veering off topic here...let's not do that please. wink.gif


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StargazeInWonder
post May 22 2023, 01:10 AM
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On the note of JWST time, that's quite scarce, as a timely piece indicates here:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/...ear-of-science/

Only 16% of Cycle 2 proposals were accepted, so if a revived Spitzer can make any observations that JWST is too busy for, that lightens the load. No doubt, many of the proposals cannot be satisfied with warm-mode Spitzer, but certainly warm Spitzer is still a valuable resource.
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marsbug
post May 24 2023, 08:39 AM
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QUOTE (nprev @ May 20 2023, 07:10 AM) *
That 'most complex' quote is from a company representative, so there's obviously a bit of...er....poetic license being taken there. rolleyes.gif


Definitely a possibility - though I wish they wouldn't: A mission across the inner solar system to (partially) restore Spitzer is impressive enough even if it is just a relay. At uni I took part in launching a weather balloon to 20 km, measuring the air pressure and sending a 'here I am' signal, and was plenty impressed: Clearly I am not the target audience of their PR! laugh.gif


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HSchirmer
post May 25 2023, 09:54 PM
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QUOTE (stevesliva @ May 20 2023, 03:35 AM) *
The other thing ... JWST is operational, and covers (without liquid He) the shorter wavelengths that "warm Spitzer" also covered. Again, more warm Spitzer seems even less indicated.

OTOH, Google seems to indicate cold Spitzer observed longer wavelengths than JWST, so getting cold Spitzer back after all these years would be a helluva thing.


That makes me kinda-wonder whether some sort of Webb-sunshade to create a cold-Spitzer extended mission might be future goal?
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