durabone
Jedi Council Member
Standard launch report, but it makes me wonder...
Would not this kind of IR sensor be well-suited to
monitoring any objects that are approaching and
leaving earth, like say a disc?
New Launch: 2009 December 14, 1409 UTC
Site: Air Force Western Test Range, California, USA
Launcher: Delta II
International Designator(s): 2009-071A
SSC Name Owner
36119 WISE US
"With the promise to discover millions of objects never seen before and revolutionize our view of the Universe, NASA has launched its WISE observatory on a scouting expedition that will rewrite the road maps to the cosmos."
"The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer will use advanced technologies to scan the sky with the clarity of a modern digital camera to reveal asteroids, comets, brown dwarfs, ultraluminous galaxies and new born stars that humans haven't laid eyes on."
"At the heart of this 1,460-pound [662-kg] spacecraft is a 16-inch [40-cm] telescope and four state-of-the-art infrared detectors containing one million pixels each, all packed inside a Thermos bottle-like tank filled with frozen hydrogen."
"A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket successfully boosted WISE into polar orbit this morning from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, lifting off at 6:09:33 a.m. local time (9:09 a.m. EST; 1409 GMT).
"The two-stage vehicle deployed the craft into an orbit 325 miles [523 km] above Earth about 55 minutes after launch. Ground controllers established contact with the craft via NASA's network of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites and confirmed WISE was operating properly.
"In about 16 days, a protective cover on the telescope will be spring-ejected. The mapping mission should commence in mid-January after testing and calibrations are completed.
"WISE will have a scant nine months to perform its survey of the Universe before the solid hydrogen that's needed to keep its infrared optics cold is gone."
Source: Spaceflight Now, "Universe mapper with infrared eyes launched"
Would not this kind of IR sensor be well-suited to
monitoring any objects that are approaching and
leaving earth, like say a disc?
New Launch: 2009 December 14, 1409 UTC
Site: Air Force Western Test Range, California, USA
Launcher: Delta II
International Designator(s): 2009-071A
SSC Name Owner
36119 WISE US
"With the promise to discover millions of objects never seen before and revolutionize our view of the Universe, NASA has launched its WISE observatory on a scouting expedition that will rewrite the road maps to the cosmos."
"The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer will use advanced technologies to scan the sky with the clarity of a modern digital camera to reveal asteroids, comets, brown dwarfs, ultraluminous galaxies and new born stars that humans haven't laid eyes on."
"At the heart of this 1,460-pound [662-kg] spacecraft is a 16-inch [40-cm] telescope and four state-of-the-art infrared detectors containing one million pixels each, all packed inside a Thermos bottle-like tank filled with frozen hydrogen."
"A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket successfully boosted WISE into polar orbit this morning from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, lifting off at 6:09:33 a.m. local time (9:09 a.m. EST; 1409 GMT).
"The two-stage vehicle deployed the craft into an orbit 325 miles [523 km] above Earth about 55 minutes after launch. Ground controllers established contact with the craft via NASA's network of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites and confirmed WISE was operating properly.
"In about 16 days, a protective cover on the telescope will be spring-ejected. The mapping mission should commence in mid-January after testing and calibrations are completed.
"WISE will have a scant nine months to perform its survey of the Universe before the solid hydrogen that's needed to keep its infrared optics cold is gone."
Source: Spaceflight Now, "Universe mapper with infrared eyes launched"
