July 2002: This visualization comes to us from our very own Dr. Robert Hurt, and shows SIRTF against the backdrop of the Milky Way, as seen in the far infrared. The 3-D computer model of the observatory was generated using the very latest information about SIRTF's final construction and flight configuration. The spacecraft's high-gain antenna, lower right, will actually be covered throughout the mission, as shown here. The two black "pipes" at the center of the observatory are the star trackers, which are used to help point the telescope. The cold cryogenic telescope assembly (CTA) is the cylindrical object on top of the spacecraft to the left in the image, and the solar array is behind the CTA pointing towards the sun. While we could never "see" SIRTF in space like this, this image gives us a peek ahead at SIRTF after its January 2003 launch.