Follow this blog:
RSS

NASA launches infrared telescope to scan entire sky

By | December 14, 2009, 6:25 AM PST

NASA on Monday successfully launched a new infrared telescope into space to scan the universe for undiscovered asteroids and comets that could threaten Earth.

Named the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, the spacecraft will use its camera to detect light- and heat-emitting objects that other orbiting telescopes, such as the Hubble, may not be able to see.

WISE was launched at 9:09 a.m. ET aboard a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The launch was postponed from Friday because of a problem with the motion of a booster steering engine.

The unmanned, solar-powered spacecraft is expected to spend the next nine months in orbit, 326 miles above the Earth. Its infrared lens eventually will cover the whole sky 1.5 times and capture photographs every 11 seconds.

The last time NASA mapped the entire sky was with the Infrared Astronomical Satellite in 1983. That spacecraft discovered six comets.

Two other infrared spacecraft currently occupy the sky: NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and the European Space Agency’s Herschel Space Observatory. Both, however, focus on specific objects and are not used for surveying the entire sky.

NASA expects WISE to find hundreds of asteroids and comets with orbits that come close to crossing Earth’s path. By measuring those objects’ infrared light, WISE can determine their size and composition and use the data to examine the magnitude of the threat by mapping out an object’s potential trajectory.

WISE is also tasked with finding dim stars called brown dwarfs and discerning the millions of far-away galaxies that are shrouded from view by dust.

Data taken by the spacecraft will be downloaded by radio transmission four times per day to computers on Earth. Scientists will combine the telescope’s overlapping images into a master image that maps out the entire celestial sphere and the objects in it.

Start your week smarter with our weekly e-mail newsletter. It's your cheat sheet for good ideas. Get it.

Andrew Nusca

About Andrew Nusca

Andrew Nusca is editor of SmartPlanet.

Andrew Nusca

Andrew Nusca

Editor

Andrew Nusca is editor of SmartPlanet and an associate editor for ZDNet. Previously, he worked at Money, Men's Vogue and Popular Mechanics magazines. He holds degrees from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and New York University. He based in New York but resides in Philadelphia.

Follow him on Twitter.

Andrew Nusca

Andrew Nusca
Andrew Nusca does not hold any investments in the companies he covers.
If you liked this, don't miss...
1
Comments

Join the conversation!

Follow via:
RSS
0 Votes
+ -
RE: NASA launches infrared telescope to scan entire sky
I hate to say this. I am a digital image technician; and I have
closely examined between 3-4000 NASA database photos. Why did I do
this? Because I became suspicious at some of the color schemes I
saw in Mars Rover photos. ... And what did I find? NASA photos
are fakes. All of them have flaws, put there deliberately.
Introduced SKEW, scale irregularities, extreme contrast and
inversions to obliterate detail, arbitrary hues added and light
manipulated in order to obliterate detail. I'm sorry! I don't
believe one word that they publicize, and I have told them so. I
have sent them hundreds of technical reports, and they ignore me as
if I'm dirt on the ground. NASA is not telling the truth about
what is going on in Space. And if IBM believes their propaganda,
you're just as stupid as they believe the people are! It's
preposterous and outrageous that NASA should lie, not only to the
American public, but also to the entire world about what is true
about space. And LIE THEY DO! Are you folks as stupid as NASA?
Posted by EmilyCragg
20th Dec 2009
Join the conversation
Formatting +
BB Codes - Note: HTML is not supported in forums
  • [b] Bold [/b]
  • [i] Italic [/i]
  • [u] Underline [/u]
  • [s] Strikethrough [/s]
  • [q] "Quote" [/q]
  • [ol][*] 1. Ordered List [/ol]
  • [ul][*] · Unordered List [/ul]
  • [pre] Preformat [/pre]
  • [quote] "Blockquote" [/quote]

Join the SmartPlanet community and join the conversation! Signing up is fast and free. Don't wait -- we want to hear your opinion!