The Spitzer Space Telescope will contribute to NASA's search for new worlds by studying discs of dust and gas found around nearby stars, which are thought to eventually form "extrasolar" planetary systems.
The mission is the fourth and final observatory under NASA's Great Observatories program, which also includes the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-Ray Observatory and Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. It is also the first new mission under NASA's Origins program, which seeks to answer the questions: Where did we come from? Are we alone?
An infrared cousin of the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope consists of a cryogenically cooled telescope with lightweight optics that deliver light to advanced, large-format infrared detector arrays. It was launched into orbit around the Sun in August 2004, trailing behind Earth, drifting in a benign thermal environment.
Science milestones achieved by Spitzer since launch include the first direct detection of light from planets in other solar systems and the discovery of a possible asteroid belt around a nearby star.
