Geneva, Dec 15: Within 10 months, WISE will try to scan the hidden skies.
NASA’s new explorer telescope has started its journey to the outer space to provide a complete mapping of the unknown objects at the heart of the heavens.
The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), onboard of a Delta 2 rocket, was blasted off early on Monday from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central California coast.
The $320 million space project will enable the scientists to have in great details a map of the entire sky rendered by the telescope’s delicate infrared mapping system.
Before starting its 10-month mission, the spacecraft will spend a month checking out its sophisticated gadgets and preparing them for an infrared scanning of the cosmos to reveal the hidden asteroids, comets and other celestial objects.
NASA’s summary explains that the mission will “uncover objects never seen before”, including brown dwarfs, ultra-luminous infrared galaxies and “disks of planetary debris around young stars.”
–Agencies