Jim Sahli								March 29, 1995
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 
(Phone:  301/286-0697)

RELEASE:  95-76


ULTRAVIOLET IMAGING TEAM ACHIEVES MAJORITY OF SCIENCE 
OBJECTIVES


    Astronomers developing the film from the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope that flew 
recently on the Astro-2 Space Shuttle mission report that they have achieved more than 80 
percent of their expected scientific objectives.  A problem with one side of the telescope's 
internal mechanism has resulted in the loss of the remaining 20 percent of the objectives.

    "We are excited about the nearly 1,000 images that we got from the short wavelength, or 
"B" camera, that flew on the STS-67 mission," said Theodore P. Stecher of NASA's 
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., principal investigator for the Ultraviolet 
Imaging Telescope (UIT).  The wavelength range that the "B" camera covered is 
considered most important for science by the UIT astronomers, he said.

    Initial indications are that an electronic image intensifier inside part of UIT's "A" camera 
failed in orbit.  As a result, about 20 percent of the observing time allotted to UIT was lost.  
The UIT was one of three ultraviolet telescopes on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour for 
the Astro-2 mission from March 2-18.

    At first, scientists suspected that the most probable cause of the failure of the UIT "A" 
camera was an internal electronic shutter.  However, preliminary inspection of readings 
taken during the mission has cast doubt on this theory.  A careful inspection of the flight 
instrument hardware will be necessary to establish the actual failure mode.

    Goddard scientists said that no indications of the problem were found while the 
instrument was in orbit.  In addition, no such problem was encountered when the UIT 
operated in space during the December 1990 Astro-1 mission.

     The Goddard team expects the first available image taken by the Ultraviolet Imaging 
Telescope to be released on Friday, March 31.

-end-

Editor's Note:  News  media should contact the Goddard Public Affairs Office at 301/286-
0697 on March 31 to obtain a copy of the first available UIT image.