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Satellite to seek nearest stars, brightest galaxies NASA/JPL ANNOUNCEMENT Posted: October 6, 2004 A new NASA mission will scan the entire sky in infrared light in search of nearby cool stars, planetary construction zones and the brightest galaxies in the universe.
Like a powerful set of night vision goggles, the new space-based telescope will survey the cosmos with infrared detectors up to 500,000 times more sensitive than previous survey missions. It will reveal hundreds of cool, or failed, stars, called brown dwarfs, some of which may lie closer to us than any known stars. "Approximately two-thirds of nearby stars are too cool to be detected with visible light," said Principal Investigator Dr. Edward Wright of the University of California, Los Angeles, who proposed the new mission to NASA. "The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer will see most of them." The telescope will also provide a complete inventory of dusty planet-forming discs around nearby stars, and find colliding galaxies that emit more light specifically infrared light than any other galaxies in the universe. In the end, the survey will consist of more than one million images, from which hundreds of millions of space objects will be catalogued. "The mission will complete the basic reconnaissance of the universe in mid-infrared wavelengths, providing a vast storehouse of knowledge that will endure for decades," said Dr. Peter Eisenhardt, project scientist for the mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "This catalogue of data will also provide NASA's future James Webb Space Telescope with a comprehensive list of targets." JPL will manage the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer at a total cost to NASA of approximately $208 million. William Irace of JPL is the project manager. The cryogenic instrument will be built by the Space Dynamics Laboratory, Logan, Utah, and the spacecraft will be built by Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation, Boulder, Colorado. Science operations and data processing will take place at the JPL/Caltech Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, Pasadena. Calif. JPL is a division of Caltech. More than 70 U.S. and cooperative international scientific space missions have been part of NASA's Explorer program. The missions are characterized by relatively moderate cost, and by small- to medium-sized missions that are capable of being built, tested and launched in a short time interval compared to the large observatories. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., manages the Explorer program for the Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington. |
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Apollo patches The Apollo Patch Collection: Includes all 12 Apollo mission patches plus the Apollo Program Patch. Save over 20% off the Individual price.  Choose your store:U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide  Current Shuttle Mission Patch  The official embroidered patch for shuttle Endeavour's flight to finish building Japanese section of the space station.U.S. STOREWORLDWIDE STOREHubble Patch  The official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle's last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase.U.S. STOREWORLDWIDE STOREAres Patch  The Ares Project will develop two new rockets to launch astronauts back to the Moon under NASA's Vision for Exploration. The Ares 1 will employ a single space shuttle solid rocket booster to loft the Orion crew capsule. The gigantic Ares 5 will haul the equipment and cargo needed for such lunar voyages. This is the Ares emblem.U.S. STORE Project Orion  The Orion crew exploration vehicle is NASA's first new human spacecraft developed since the space shuttle a quarter-century earlier. The capsule is one of the key elements of returning astronauts to the Moon.U.S. STOREFallen Heroes Patch Collection  The official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store.U.S. STOREWORLDWIDE STORESoviet Space  For the first time ever available in the West. Rocket & Space Corporation Energia: a complete pictorial history of the Soviet/Russian Space Program from 1946 to the present day all in full color. Available from our store.Choose your store:U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide Viking patch  This embroidered mission patch celebrates NASA's Viking Project which reached the Red Planet in 1976.Choose your store:U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide Apollo 7 DVD  For 11 days the crew of Apollo 7 fought colds while they put the Apollo spacecraft through a workout, establishing confidence in the machine what would lead directly to the bold decision to send Apollo 8 to the moon just 2 months later.Choose your store:U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide Gemini 12  Gemini 12: The NASA Mission Reports covers the voyage of James Lovell and Buzz Aldrin that capped the Gemini program's efforts to prove the technologies and techniques that would be needed for the Apollo Moon landings. Includes CD-ROM.Choose your store:U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide |
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The International Space Station crew holds an educational event to answers questions live with students at the Maryland Science Center. (24min 01sec file)
The solar wind samples retrieved by NASA's Genesis spacecraft finally arrive at Johnson Space Center facilities from the Utah landing site. (2min 51sec file)
SpaceShipOne pilots and Burt Rutan call the International Space Station for an informal chat with Expedition 9 commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineer Mike Fincke the day after winning the X Prize. (13min 07sec file)
The flight of Gordon Cooper and Mercury's Faith 7 mission is remembered in this NASA tribute film. (20min 42sec file)
SpaceShipOne with pilot Brian Binnie rocket into space on the second of two flights needed to win the $10 million X Prize. (2min 32sec file)
This longer length clip of SpaceShipOne's second X Prize launch following the ascent, feathering of the wings and the start of re-entry. (5min 56sec file)
Brian Binnie, the world's second private astronaut, brings SpaceShipOne to a safe landing at Mojave airport to capture the X Prize. (5min 55sec file)
Watch the hair-raising flight of SpaceShipOne during the first of two launches needed to win the $10 million X Prize. The craft experienced a major rolling motion and early engine shutdown. (3min 40sec file)
Scientists describe a cosmic hurricane in this news conference from Sept. 23, explaining how two merging galaxy clusters churn high-pressure shock waves that leave thousands of galaxies strewn in the wake. (53min 24sec file)