NASA's Great Observatories Program Focus of Lawrence University Science Lecture

APPLETON, WIS. -- Robert Gehrz, president of the American Astronomical Society, discusses the current status and mission of the fourth and final satellite in NASA's Great Observatories Program Wednesday, May 30 in a Lawrence University science hall colloquium.

Gehrz, professor of astronomy at the University of Minnesota, presents "Science Opportunities with NASA's Space Infra Red Telescope Facility (SIRTF)" at 8 p.m. in Science Hall Room 102. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral next fall, SIRTF will join its more famous cousin, the Hubble Space Telescope, and two other already-orbiting facilities as the final piece in NASA's Great Observatories Program. Started in 1990 with the launch of the Hubble Telescope, the Great Observatories Program i provides scientific data on the cosmos through astronomical studies conducted over many different wavelengths, including gamma, ultraviolet and infrared. The SIRTF is a cryogenically-cooled infrared observatory capable of studying objects ranging from within our own solar system to the distant reaches of the universe