SPITZER’S 16 YEARS OF SCANNING THE COSMOS
By Lily Katzman/Smithsonianmag.com
Robert Hurt, a visualization scientist working for the Spitzer Space Center, is taking the decommission of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope a bit more personally than most.
“Aside from being on the precipice of an emotional breakdown after the loss of something that’s as dear to me as a family member, I’m doing well,” he says.
Even those of us who haven’t spent our careers creating images of the universe from Spitzer data can appreciate the loss. On January 30, NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope concluded 16 years of infrared observations that allowed scientists to reveal some of the most hidden regions of our universe. With a primary mission of only two-and-a-half years, Spitzer’s small size and efficiency propelled the telescope to exceed scientists’ expectations, revolutionizing our understanding of exoplanets, the composition of planetary systems, and even the earliest star formations.
But now, as Spitzer’s batteries reach the end of their lives, the telescope is experiencing communication barriers and cooling difficulties. The Spitzer team at NASA and the California Institute of Technology has no choice but to bid the spacecraft farewell.
“Spitzer has fundamentally changed astronomy textbooks,” says Sean Carey, manager of Spitzer’s Science Center at Caltech. “It’s told us so much about the universe in so many different aspects.”

Carol graduated from Riverside White Cross School of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio and received her diploma as a registered nurse. She attended Bowling Green State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Literature. She attended the University of Toledo, College of Nursing, and received a Master’s of Nursing Science Degree as an Educator.
She has traveled extensively, is a photographer, and writes on medical issues. Carol has three children RJ, Katherine, and Stephen – one daughter-in-law; Katie – two granddaughters; Isabella Marianna and Zoe Olivia – and one grandson, Alexander Paul. She also shares her life with her husband Gordon Duff, many cats, and two rescues.
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Orienting a unit that large while you’re in a fixed low-earth orbit might be tricky, but the LRO certainly had no problem:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Reconnaissance_Orbiter
I vote we try to keep the conspiracy angle to the better demonstrable stuff like saucer craft, JFK, and 9/11. Lot of people have been in space, and even possibly more than we suspect.
I wonder if it would change human behavior, were people able to look up into the night sky and see this with the naked eye?
I use this word sparingly that it might retain it’s definition. Awesome. Thank you Carol.
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