The Spitzer Space Telescope (SST), originally known as the the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), was an infrared space telescope launched in 2003 and retired on 30 January 2020.
The planned mission period was intended to be only 2.5 years with a pre-launch expectation that the mission could extend to five or slightly more years until the onboard liquid helium supply was exhausted. The liquid helium supply was was completely spent on 15 May 2009. Without any liquid helium to cool the telescope to the very low temperatures needed to operate, most of the instruments were no longer usable. However, the two shortest-wavelength modules of the IRAC camera continued to operate with the same sensitivity as before the cryogen was exhausted, and continued to be used into early 2020 in the Spitzer Warm Mission.
Enjoy Fifteen years of Spitzer Highlights
Tarantula Nebula Spitzer 3-Color Image
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Perseus Molecular Cloud
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Jack-o-Lantern Nebula
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Bubbles, Bubbles Everywhere!
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
M81 Galaxy by Starlight
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Perfectly Sideways Galaxy (NGC 5866)
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Whirlpool Galaxy in Visible Light
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Cepheus C and Cepheus B (IRAC-MIPS)
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Space Butterfly
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Cat’s Paw Nebula MIPS & IRAC
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/span>
You can find the entire NASA Spitzer image collection in their archive.