The Space Infrared Facility (SIRTF): A new probe for study of the birth and evolution of galaxies in the early Universe

The Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) is the fourth and final eleme nt in NASA's family of orbiting "Great Observatories. SIRTF will offer orde r-of-magnitude improvements in capability over existing programs in the wav elength region between 3 and 180 microns. The combination of large-format d etector arrays, with the intrinsic sensitivity of a cryogenic telescope, an d the high sky visibility of a solar orbit, makes SIRTF an ideal instrument to carry out a number of very significant surveys to study the birth and e volution of galaxies in the early Universe. More than 75% of SIRTF's observ ing time will be available to the worldwide scientific community, with the first call for proposals in July, 2000. SIRTF will be launched in December 2001, with an anticipated lifetime of 5 years.