SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jun 19, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The primary Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) for NASA's Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) will be designed and built by a team headed by the University of Arizona (UofAz), including the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Advanced Technology Center (ATC) in Palo Alto, Calif. as the principal partner. NGST is a key mission in NASA's Origins Program. The new space observatory, slated for launch in 2010, will help NASA observe the first stars and galaxies formed in the Universe.

"We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to work with Dr. Marcia Rieke of UofAz, and our Canadian colleagues, on the design and construction of NIRCam," said Scott Horner, Lockheed Martin NIRCam instrument scientist. "We're eager to get started on the task ahead and excited about participating in the momentous discoveries that will surely come from the NGST mission."

NIRCam will be the keystone instrument on NGST, discovering the first light in the Universe, the principles of star formation and planets around other stars. NIRCam is essential to NGST objectives, providing near infrared and low resolution imaging spectroscopy to unlock the secrets and origins of the Universe. The NIRCam team is comprised of U of Az, the ATC, EMS Technologies, Ottawa, Canada; and COMDEV, Ltd., Cambridge, Canada, and co-investigators. The team's NIRCam will achieve these goals through a compact modular refractive design with exceptionally high observing efficiency, in a volume only one-third the size of the allotment. In addition, built-in self-test features will significantly lower integration risk and provide on-orbit calibration.

The science program, which demonstrates the full potential of NGST to revolutionize our understanding of Origins in the Universe -- from the detection of the earliest objects to characterizing newly discovered planetary systems -- is organized around three major themes:

    --  Formation of galaxies, from the first luminous massive
        condensations of material through the reionization of the
        Universe, to the assembly of galaxies and clusters and
        development of morphological types.
    --  Formation of stars and brown dwarfs, from twice the mass of
        Jupiter to the mass of the Sun. NIRCam will probe the collapse
        of pre-stellar cores and test current theories about stellar
        birth.
    --  Planetary systems from birth to maturity. NIRCam will use
        coronagraphy to image and obtain spectra of debris disks and
        compare their properties with those of our own counterpart,
        the Kuiper Belt. It will image and obtain spectra of massive
        giant planets around nearby stars, to determine their
        atmospheric properties and their relation to debris disk
        structure.

The NGST will be a space observatory optimized for infrared imaging and spectroscopy of astronomical objects. It will be launched to a location about a million miles from Earth opposite the Sun where it will conduct its observations in the cold of deep space. To accomplish the ambitious science goals outlined for it, the NGST will be equipped with extremely sensitive infrared instruments -- NIRCam, a near-infrared spectrograph, and a mid-infrared instrument. Its large aperture and IR detectors will allow NGST to see objects 400 times fainter than those currently studied with large ground-based infrared telescopes or the current generation of space-based infrared telescopes. NGST will do this while equaling or surpassing the spatial resolution (image sharpness) of the Hubble Space Telescope.

The NGST is a NASA-led project being undertaken by an international team comprising government, European Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency, industry and academia. The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is managing the project. Principal Investigators under contract to NASA, ESA, and CSA will develop scientific instruments for the observatory. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md. will be responsible for the ground system, observatory operations, and science program management.

NASA's Origins Program follows the chain of events that began with the birth of the Universe at the Big Bang. It seeks to understand the entire process of cosmic evolution from the formation of chemical elements, galaxies, stars and planets, through the mixing of chemicals and energy that cradles life on Earth, to the earliest self-replicating organisms and the proliferation of life. In short, Origins hopes to answer the fundamental question: Are we alone in the Universe?

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company is one of the major operating units of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Space Systems designs, develops, tests, manufactures, and operates a variety of advanced technology systems for military, civil and commercial customers. Chief products include a full-range of space launch systems, including heavy-lift capability, ground systems, remote sensing and communications satellites for commercial and government customers, advanced space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft, fleet ballistic missiles and missile defense systems.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global enterprise principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, and integration of advanced-technology systems, products, and services. The Corporation's core businesses are systems integration, space, aeronautics, and technology services. Employing more than 125,000 people worldwide, Lockheed Martin had 2001 sales surpassing $24 billion.

For more information about Lockheed Martin Space Systems, see our website at http://lmms.external.lmco.com/

CONTACT:          Lockheed Martin Space Systems     
                  Buddy Nelson, 510/797-0349        
                  888/916-1797 (pager)          
                  buddynelson@mac.com               

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