In the coming years, the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) will continue to provide scientific operations support for a variety of astrophysics projects, primarily those funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

A unique partnership between the California Institute of Technology and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory - IPAC has played an integral role in ensuring a rich science return from NASA's astronomy program by:

• Carrying out technically and scientifically demanding processing tasks
• Developing and maintaining science data archives
• Creating and sustaining access and analysis tools
• Providing science leadership and technical consulting for new projects
• Conducting education and outreach efforts aimed at the general public
• Interfacing between projects and the astronomical community
• Managing science programs on behalf of NASA

In the future, IPAC will continue to serve as the administrative home of NASA's Spitzer Science Center, NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, Herschel Science Center, and the Planck mission's US Data Center. It will continue to share its science data processing expertise with missions like NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). And, continue science operations support for the Keck Interferometer and the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM).

IPAC will maintain it's archiving legacy with:

• NASA's Extragalactic Database (NED) - the pre-eminent repository for data, images and published references for objects outside our Milky Way Galaxy.
• NASA's Infrared/Submillimeter Science Archive (IRSA) - a one-stop shop for infrared data obtained from NASA missions, with special emphasis on software tools and Internet services.
• NASA Star and Exoplanet Database (NStED) - a general purpose stellar and exoplanet archive to support NASA's planet finding and characterization activities.

IPAC also offers expertise in public communications, public affairs, education and public outreach. The IPAC communications teams helps missions establish a presence in popular culture, on the internet, coverage via the popular and technical media, and in classrooms all over the world by creating compelling imagery, multimedia, events and written content.