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FIRST

The fourth Horizon 2000 cornerstone mission (confirmed in November, 1993) still in the early design phase is the Far-Infrared and Submillimeter Space Telescope (FIRST) with a tentative launch date of 2006. The objective of the mission is to acquire high precision imaging in the 50 µm-1 mm portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to study the physics of the interstellar medium, star formation, and cosmology. The original design called for a primary telescope of 4-8 m diameter, but in 1992 budget pressures led to a downsizing of the diameter to only 3 m. In turn this leads to an emphasis on the 200-60O µm region with heterodyne spectroscopy - a technique which eliminates the need for liquid helium cryogenic cooling. Spectrometers and photometers tuned to 50-900 µm are also anticipated. The roughly two-metric-ton spacecraft will operate in a 24-hour, elliptical Earth orbit (References 244-246).

244. First. Far Infrared and Submillimeter Space Telescope, BR-69, ESA, July 1990.

245. ESA's Report to the 28th COSPAR Meeting, op. cit., pp. 91-95.

246. Annual Report, ESA, 1994, pp. 29-30.

Sources and Resources

• Adapted from: Europe and Asia in Space 1993-1994, Nicholas Johnson and David Rodvold [Kaman Sciences / Air Force Phillips Laboratory]

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