BOULDER, Colo. – The Space Infrared
Telescope Facility (SIRTF), carrying the Ball
Aerospace cryogenic telescope assembly and two
Ball-built science instruments, is scheduled to
launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on April 18. SIRTF
is the fourth and final mission in NASA’s Great
Observatories series. Ball Aerospace has had a
significant role on all four of the Great
Observatories.

SIRTF will observe objects from the outer solar
system to the most luminous known galaxies in the
farthest reaches of space. By studying the infrared
thermal energy emitted by distant objects in the
universe, astronomers will gain significant knowledge
regarding the formation and evolution of the
universe.

“With the launch of SIRTF, Ball Aerospace has come
full-circle in providing remarkable, one-of-a-kind
instruments for every NASA Great Observatory,” said
Jerry Chodil, vice president and general manager of
Civil Space Systems for Ball Aerospace. “We have been
a partner on the Hubble Space Telescope, launched in
1990, including six instruments for its follow-on
servicing missions, and also the Compton Gamma Ray
Observatory launched in 1991, and the Chandra X-ray
Observatory in 1999.”

The innovative Cryogenic Telescope Assembly (CTA)
system built by Ball Aerospace under contract to the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, provides the low
temperature of 1.4 K above absolute zero required for
sensitive observations by the three instruments. “The
CTA is the first-of-its kind and the most complex
cryogenic system ever developed by Ball Aerospace,”
said Chodil.

Ball Aerospace also built SIRTF’s Infrared
Spectrograph (IRS) under contract to Cornell
University and the Multiband Imaging Photometer
(MIPS) for SIRTF under contract to the University of
Arizona. The IRS breaks lights into its various
wavelengths, much like a prism, to help astronomers
study the composition of cosmic objects. MIPS is a
far-infrared instrument capable of imaging
photometry, high-resolution imaging, and scan
mapping.

SIRTF’s lifetime requirement is two-and-a-half years,
with a goal of five years. As part of the NASA
Origins program, SIRTF will further discoveries
initiated by the previous three Great Observatories.
It will also help prepare the scientific framework
for future missions such as the James Webb Space
Telescope, for which Ball Aerospace is the principal
subcontractor to develop the telescope optical
system.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. provides remote
sensing systems and solutions to the aerospace and
defense markets. It is a subsidiary of Ball
Corporation (NYSE BLL) which in addition to owning
Ball Aerospace is one of the leading suppliers of
metal and plastic packaging to the beverage and food
industries. With the addition of Ball Packaging
Europe, acquired in December 2002, Ball expects sales
in 2003 of approximately $5.1 billion, $4.6 billion
from its packaging segment and $500 million from its
aerospace and technologies segment.