IRAS
The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (Dutch: Infrarood Astronomische Satelliet) (IRAS) was the first space telescope to perform a survey of the entire night sky at infrared wavelengths. Launched on 25 January 1983, its mission lasted ten months. The telescope was a joint project of the United States (NASA), the Netherlands (NIVR), and the United Kingdom (SERC). Over 250,000 infrared sources were observed at 12, 25, 60, and 100 micrometer wavelengths.
Infrared Astronomical Satellite in space simulator at JPL | |||||||||
| Mission type | Infrared space observatory | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | |||||||||
| COSPAR ID | 1983-004A | ||||||||
| SATCAT no. | 13777 | ||||||||
| Website | irsa | ||||||||
| Mission duration | Final: 9 months, 26 days | ||||||||
| Spacecraft properties | |||||||||
| Manufacturer | |||||||||
| Launch mass | 1,083 kg (2,388 lb) | ||||||||
| Dimensions | 3.60 × 3.24 × 2.05 m (11.8 × 10.6 × 6.7 ft) | ||||||||
| Start of mission | |||||||||
| Launch date | 25 January 1983, 21:17 UTC | ||||||||
| Rocket | Delta 3910 | ||||||||
| Launch site | Vandenberg SLC-2W | ||||||||
| Entered service | 9 February 1983 | ||||||||
| End of mission | |||||||||
| Disposal | Decommissioned | ||||||||
| Deactivated | 21 November 1983 | ||||||||
| Orbital parameters | |||||||||
| Reference system | Geocentric | ||||||||
| Regime | Sun-synchronous | ||||||||
| Semi-major axis | 7,270.69 km (4,517.80 mi) | ||||||||
| Eccentricity | 0.001857 | ||||||||
| Perigee altitude | 879.05 km (546.22 mi) | ||||||||
| Apogee altitude | 906.05 km (562.99 mi) | ||||||||
| Inclination | 98.95 deg | ||||||||
| Period | 102.8 min | ||||||||
| Mean motion | 14.00 rev/day | ||||||||
| Epoch | 19 November 2016, 04:15:30 UTC | ||||||||
| Main telescope | |||||||||
| Type | Ritchey–Chrétien | ||||||||
| Diameter | 57 cm (22 in) | ||||||||
| Focal length | 545 cm (215 in), f/9.56 | ||||||||
| Collecting area | 2,019 cm2 (312.9 sq in) | ||||||||
| Wavelengths | Long-wavelength to far-infrared | ||||||||
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Support for the processing and analysis of data from IRAS was contributed from the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology. Currently, the Infrared Science Archive at IPAC holds the IRAS archive.
The success of IRAS led to interest in the 1985 Infrared Telescope (IRT) mission on the Space Shuttle, and the planned Shuttle Infrared Telescope Facility which eventually transformed into the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, SIRTF, which in turn was developed into the Spitzer Space Telescope, launched in 2003. The success of early infrared space astronomy led to further missions, such as the Infrared Space Observatory (1990s) and the Hubble Space Telescope's NICMOS instrument.