Space Telescopes: an International Perspective

Abstract

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to review current and planned Space Astronomy missions from an international perspective, with principal attention to the programs of the USA, Europe, Japan and the USSR. The review focusses on extra-solar astrophysics, and the capabilities and broad research objectives of numerous individual spacecraft are described. These collectively span more than seventeen decades in wavelength and thus provide an essential complement to ground-based astronomy. Many of the missions offer significant opportunities for Australian participation via three complementary routes. First through Guest Investigator programs analogous to that offered for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Second, through the proposed establishment of an Australian Space Astronomy Data Centre to gain access to archival data from HST and other missions (the creation of such an archival facility in Canada is highlighted as a pertinent example). Third, via the contribution of instrumentation or ground support services. This latter category includes the Radioastron VLBI mission for which an agreement with the USSR has already been signed. In addition, an unprecedented opportunity has arisen for Australia to provide a ground station for the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), due to be launched by ESA in 1993. In return for providing this service, the Australian astronomical community would receive a guaranteed share of the ISO observing time during the two year mission. Finally, Australian astronomers have been invited to contribute an advanced All-sky X-ray Monitor for the Soviet Spectrum-X-Gamma mission in 1993. This opportunity, and also the Radioastron initiative, have arisen under the USSR-Australia Space Research Agreement signed in December 1987.