 |
 The Multiband
Imaging Photometer for SIRTF (MIPS) is a far-infrared photometer that was launched along
with the rest of SIRTF into a
solar orbit on August 25, 2003. It is one of three instruments on SIRTF,
the other two being IRAC and IRSThe instrument assembly and construction were carried out at Ball Aerospace. The two far infrared Focal Plane Arrays (FPAs) of detectors were designed and built at Steward Observatory, where the project is also managed. A third, mid-infrared array was built at Boeing North America under the leadership of the IRS team. SIRTF is a project of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and is overseen by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The interface to the users of the instrument within the international astronomical community will be led by the SIRTF Science Center at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center in Pasadena, with assistance from the MIPS instrument team at the University of Arizona. You can read more about the design of SIRTF here. By the way, SIRTF is the Space Infrared Telescope Facility. Don't you love nested acronyms?. |
