Space Telescopes and Instrumentation Development and construction of state-of-the-art instrumentation for space observatories constitutes another major activity of the MPIA. These instruments are operated at the telescopes of several space observatories. The MPIA focuses on mid- and far-infrared instrumentation projects which are frequently carried out in international consortia. HERSCHEL PACS Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer launched 14th May 2009 top   James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) MIRI Mid-Infrared Instrument Under development NIRSpec Near Infrared Spectrograph Under development top   GAIA GAIA is the next major astrometric mission. It's primary goal is to study the structure, formation and evolution of our Galaxy by building a highly accurate three-dimensional map of over one billion stars as well as measuring their velocities, chemical compositions and ages. The GAIA group at MPIA is responsible for developing software to classify astrophysical sources and to determine their stellar astrophysical parameters. classification    of objects Under development top   Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) ISOPhot Infrared Space Observatory Photometer Decomissioned top Responsible: Oliver Krause & Coryn Bailer-Jones Last updated: July 5th, 2010