  We are performing a uniform and unbiased, ~7x7 degrees imaging survey of the
Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), using the IRAC and MIPS instruments on board the
Spitzer Space Telescope in order to survey the agents of a galaxy's evolution
(SAGE), the interstellar medium (ISM) and stars in the LMC. The detection of
diffuse ISM with column densities >1.2x10^21 H cm^-2 permits detailed studies
of dust processes in the ISM. SAGE's point source sensitivity enables a
complete census of newly formed stars with masses >3 solar masses that will
determine the current star formation rate in the LMC. SAGE's detection of
evolved stars with mass loss rates >1x10^-8 solar masses per year will quantify
the rate at which evolved stars inject mass into the ISM of the LMC. The
observing strategy includes two epochs in 2005, separated by three months, that
both mitigate instrumental artifacts and constrain source variability. The SAGE
data are non-proprietary. The data processing includes IRAC and MIPS pipelines
and a database for mining the point source catalogs, which will be released to
the community in support of Spitzer proposal cycles 4 and 5. We present initial
results on the epoch 1 data with a special focus on the N79 and N83 region. The
SAGE epoch 1 point source catalog has ~4 million sources. The point source
counts are highest for the IRAC 3.6 microns band and decrease dramatically
towards longer wavelengths consistent with the fact that stars dominate the
point source catalogs and that the dusty objects, e.g. young stellar objects
and dusty evolved stars that detected at the longer wavelengths, are rare in
comparison. We outline a strategy for identifying foreground MW stars, that may
comprise as much as 18% of the source list, and background galaxies, that may
comprise ~12% of the source list.
