ULA Delta II Launches WISE from Vandenberg AFB. CA. 12-14-2009

Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), U.S. satellite that observed astronomical objects at infrared wavelengths. It was launched on December 14, 2009, by a Delta II launch vehicle from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, into a polar orbit 500 km (310 miles) above Earth. WISE contained a 40-cm (16-inch) telescope that surveyed the entire sky at wavelengths of 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 microns (1 micron is 10−6 metre) from January to August 2010. After the solid hydrogen that kept WISE’s detectors cool was exhausted, WISE was still able to use the 3.4- and 4.6-micron detectors to survey the main asteroid belt and search for near-Earth objects (NEOs), asteroids whose orbits cross that of Earth. The WISE mission ended on February 17, 2011. WISE was much more sensitive than previous satellites (such as the Cosmic Background Explorer and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite) that carried out infrared sky surveys. The WISE survey gathered enough data to catalog hundreds of millions of objects.

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ULA Delta II launches WISE Dec. 14, 2009 from Vandenberg AFB. CA.

Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), U.S. satellite that observed astronomical objects at infrared wavelengths. It was launched on December 14, 2009, by a Delta II launch vehicle from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, into a polar orbit 500 km (310 miles) above Earth. WISE contained a 40-cm (16-inch) telescope that surveyed the entire sky at wavelengths of 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 microns (1 micron is 10−6 metre) from January to August 2010. After the solid hydrogen that kept WISE’s detectors cool was exhausted, WISE was still able to use the 3.4- and 4.6-micron detectors to survey the main asteroid belt and search for near-Earth objects (NEOs), asteroids whose orbits cross that of Earth. The WISE mission ended on February 17, 2011. WISE was much more sensitive than previous satellites (such as the Cosmic Background Explorer and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite) that carried out infrared sky surveys. The WISE survey gathered enough data to catalog hundreds of millions of objects.

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