Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE, observatory code C51, Explorer 92 and MIDEX-6) is a NASA infrared astronomy space telescope in the Explorers Program launched in December 2009.[2][3][4] WISE discovered thousands of minor planets and numerous star clusters. Its observations also supported the discovery of the first Y-type brown dwarf and Earth trojan asteroid.[5][6][7][8][9][10] WISE performed an all-sky astronomical survey with images in 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 μm wavelength range bands, over ten months using a 40 cm (16 in) diameter infrared telescope in Earth orbit.[11]
Names
Explorer 92
SMEX-6
NEOWISE
Near-Earth Object WISE
36119
10 months (planned)
14 years, 6 months and 14 days (in progress)
Explorer XCII
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
661 kg (1,457 lb) [1]
347 kg (765 lb)
2.85 × 2 × 1.73 m (9 ft 4 in × 6 ft 7 in × 5 ft 8 in)
551 watts
14 December 2009, 14:09:33 UTC
Delta II 7320-10C (Delta 347)
2010
2025 (planned)
488.3 km (303.4 mi)
494.8 km (307.5 mi)
97.50°
94.45 minutes
40 cm (16 in) [1]
3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 μm
After its solid hydrogen coolant depleted, it was placed in hibernation mode in February 2011.[5]
In 2013, NASA reactivated the WISE telescope to search for near-Earth objects (NEO), such as comets and asteroids, that could collide with Earth.[12][13]
The reactivation mission was called Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE).[13]
As of August 2023, NEOWISE is 40% through the 20th coverage of the full sky.
Science operations and data processing for WISE and NEOWISE take place at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California.
The WISE All-Sky (WISEA) data, including processed images, source catalogs and raw data, was released to the public on 14 March 2012, and is available at the Infrared Science Archive.[14][15][16]
The NEOWISE mission is expected to end by early-2025 and the satellite to reenter some time after.[17]
WISE spacecraft
Scheme of the spacecraft
Scheme of the telescope
Scheme of the instruments
The WISE satellite bus was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies in Boulder, Colorado. The spacecraft is derived from the Ball Aerospace & Technologies RS-300 spacecraft architecture, particularly the NEXTSat spacecraft built for the successful Orbital Express mission launched on 9 March 2007. The flight system has an estimated mass of 560 kg (1,230 lb). The spacecraft is three-axis stabilized, with body-fixed solar arrays. It uses a high-gain antenna in the Ku-band to transmit to the ground through the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) geostationary system. Ball also performed the testing and flight system integration.
The WISE mission is led by Edward L. Wright of the University of California, Los Angeles. The mission has a long history under Wright's efforts and was first funded by NASA in 1999 as a candidate for a NASA Medium-class Explorer (MIDEX) mission under the name Next Generation Sky Survey (NGSS). The history of the program from 1999 to date is briefly summarized as follows:
Hibernation
Reactivation
A full-sky view with infrared wavelengths rendered in visible light
