[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E98]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO THE SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE

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                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 29, 2020

  Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) mission managed by the Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Spitzer Space Telescope. After 16 
years of discovering hidden truths of our Universe, Spitzer will be 
retired on January 30, 2020.
   Designed to study the cold, old and dusty, Spitzer was launched in 
August of 2003 and used its sensitive sensors to study infrared light 
emitted by celestial bodies and cosmic objects from our own solar 
system to the furthest reaches of the Universe. Spitzer returned data 
on space phenomena from asteroids to the most distant galaxies ever 
detected whose light was emitted 13.4 billion years ago when the 
universe was less than 5 percent of its current age. It discovered the 
largest ring around Saturn made of dust particles, identified the first 
Buckyballs in space, found distant blackholes and mapped out our Milky 
Way with unprecedented clarity. Spitzer gave us a view beyond the gas 
and dust clouds to study the youngest stars and the ingredients to 
create planets, comets and other components of our solar system.
   As with many NASA missions, the telescope operated much longer than 
expected and has a long list of accomplishments beyond the mission's 
original science goals. Undoubtedly, one of Spitzer's greatest 
discoveries was seven Earth-size planets in around the star TRAPPIST-1. 
Spitzer enabled scientists to study exoplanets and identify atmospheric 
molecules, temperature variations, and wind speed.
   As Spitzer is safely retired in deep space orbit far from Earth, the 
legacy of the mission will be continued by the James Webb Space 
Telescope, which will also conduct infrared astronomy based on 
Spitzer's pioneering and trailblazing work in infrared light. The 
massive amount of data collected by Spitzer has been used in over 8,700 
scientific publications and its data will continue to be available to 
the scientific community around the world for future research.
   I have great appreciation and pride for the countless personnel that 
have worked to ensure that Spitzer operated with precision, from design 
to data analysis, that allowed Spitzer to study the Universe with 
infrared light. The numerous discoveries made move us closer to 
shedding light on the profound mysteries of our Universe. I ask all 
members to join me in honoring the achievements of the Spitzer Space 
Telescope and the hard-working individuals and organizations that made 
Spitzer's mission so successful.

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