According to the SIRTF Web site managed by the California Institute of Techology, "NASA has decided to use the additional week to complete internal readiness assessments."
The $740 million telescope's infrared sensors will allow scientists to see further into the universe than ever before, according to NASA. The telescope, with an 85-centimeter (33.5-inch) diameter lens, whose mission could last up to five years, is equipped with three scientific cryogenic cooling instruments.
It has an infrared array camera to study near-to-mid-infrared rays, an infrared spectrograph that breaks light into wavelengths similar to a prism and a multiband imaging photometer that operates at far-infrared wavelengths to study cool, dusty objects.
For more information, visit: sirtf.caltech.edu