Douglas Isbell Headquarters, Washington, DC October 5, 1995 (Phone: 202/358-1547) Fred Brown Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (Phone: 301/286-7277) RELEASE: 95-170 IUE OPERATIONS TRANSFERRED TO EUROPE, ENDING AN ERA After nearly two decades of continuous operations support, NASA has transferred primary control of the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) to a partnership of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) of the United Kingdom. As part of the U.S. space agency's continuing cost reduction efforts, day-to-day operational control of IUE was fully transferred to ESA on October 1. IUE-related science programs will be combined, and NASA will concentrate on the completion of the IUE data archive. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, has operated the IUE in collaboration with ESA and the PPARC since the spacecraft's launch on Jan. 26, 1978. This arrangement allowed astronomers and astrophysicists in both the U.S. and Europe to make around-the-clock observations using IUE, in much the same way as telescopes at ground- based observatories are operated. The new mission design enables scientists world wide to continue to use the IUE for ongoing science programs. The IUE is a great NASA success story and has had a tremendous impact on the astronomical community, said Dr. Andrea Dupree, the President-Elect of the American Astronomical Society. "The IUE marked the first true space observatory to be used by professional astronomers and students all over the world. The various IUE programs demonstrate superb cooperation among scientists from many different nations to address challenging problems, and the spacecraft was operated with care and ingenuity by NASA. " -more- -2- A past winner of the U.S. Presidential Award for Design Excellence, IUE uses spectrographic instruments to study astronomical and cosmic phenomena visible in ultraviolet light. The observatory has observed nearly 100,000 astronomical sources, including planets, comets, stars and galaxies. The spacecraft was designed for a three-year lifetime. According to Dr. Andrew Michalitsianos, the IUE deputy project manager at Goddard, IUE results have been used as the basis for more than 100 Ph.D. and master's degree theses in the U.S. alone. "IUE has been and continues to be used as a central facility in most multiwavelength observations," said Michalitsianos. "Multiwavelength observation is an important modern approach in astrophysical research. In fact, the forthcoming X-Ray Timing Explorer mission is counting on the continued availability of IUE -- not to mention some observers using the Hubble Space Telescope," he said. Some of IUE's discoveries and research results are: ¥ Comparative studies of aurorae on Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus ¥ Discovery of molecular sulfur emission from the nucleus of a comet ¥ Identification of many stars with magnetic fields and surface activity ¥ Identification of previously unknown stellar companions to cool stars ¥ Measurements of stellar "winds" ¥ Mapping of low-density gas bubbles around the Sun and nearby stars ¥ Supernova observations in the Large Magellanic Cloud (a nearby galaxy) ¥ Measurements of the composition of planetary nebulae ¥ Discovery of hot (180,000 degrees Fahrenheit) gas surrounding the Milky Way ¥ Estimates of active galaxy sizes Even after almost 18 years of operation, the demand for IUE observation time exceeds the time available. "More than 2,000 astronomers have used the NASA observatory at Goddard and the ESA observatory in Spain as guest observers," Michalitsianos said. "The results of these observations have been described in more than 3,000 scientific papers that appeared in major peer-reviewed astronomical journals by the end of 1994. This makes IUE the most productive and successful telescope of all time." More information on IUE is available on the Internet at URL: http://iuewww.gsfc.nasa.gov/iuedac/iuedac_homepage.html -end- NASA press releases and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to domo@hq.nasa.gov. In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type the words "subscribe press- release" (no quotes). The system will reply with a confirmation via E-mail of each subscription. A second automatic message will include additional information on the service. Questions should be directed to (202) 358-4043.