NEOWISE

Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer

Artist concept of WISE spacecraft
Names	MIDEX/WISE, Explorer 92
Mission type	Infrared telescope
Operator	NASA / JPL
COSPAR ID	2009-071A
SATCAT №	36119
Website	http://www.nasa.gov/wise
Mission duration	Planned: 10 months Elapsed: 7 years, 1 month, 9 days
Spacecraft properties
Bus	Ball Aerospace RS-300
Manufacturer	Ball Aerospace Lockheed Martin Space Dynamics Laboratory SSG Precision Optronics
Launch mass	661 kg (1,457 lb)
Payload mass	347 kg (765 lb)
Dimensions	2.85 × 2 × 1.73 m (9.4 × 6.6 × 5.7 ft)
Power	551 W
Start of mission
Launch date	December 14, 2009, 14:09:33 (2009-12-14UTC14:09:33Z) UTC
Rocket	Delta II 7320-10
Launch site	Vandenberg SLC-2W
Contractor	United Launch Alliance
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Sun-synchronous polar
Regime	Low Earth
Semi-major axis	6,869.7 km (4,268.6 mi)
Eccentricity	0.000472
Perigee	488.3 km (303.4 mi)
Apogee	494.8 km (307.5 mi)
Inclination	97.5°
Period	94.45 min
RAAN	156.3°
Argument of perigee	103.1°
Mean anomaly	257.05°
Mean motion	15.25°
Velocity	7.6 km/s (4.7 mi/s)
Epoch	May 21, 2015, 03:00:06 UTC
Revolution number	30060
Main telescope
Diameter	0.4 m (1.3 ft)
Wavelengths	3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 microns
Instruments
Four infrared detectors

Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is a NASA infrared-wavelength astronomical space telescope launched in December 2009, and placed in hibernation in February 2011 when its transmitter turned off. It was re-activated in 2013. WISE discovered thousands of minor planets and numerous star clusters. Its observations also supported the discovery of the first Y Dwarf and Earth trojan asteroid.

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. After its hydrogen coolant depleted, a four-month mission extension called NEOWISE was conducted to search for near-Earth objects such as comets and asteroids using its remaining capability.

The All-Sky data including processed images, source catalogs and raw data, was released to the public on March 14, 2012, and is available at the Infrared Science Archive. In August 2013, NASA announced it would reactivate the WISE telescope for a new three-year mission to search for asteroids that could collide with Earth. 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.

In May 2016, significant asteroid data arising from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and NEOWISE missions have been questioned, but the criticism has yet to undergo peer review.