WISE has launched!
The tower around the Delta II rocket carrying WISE has been rolled back
News • December 14th, 2009
Launch updates:
Posted at 7:35am PST - WISE has stabilized its position, and its solar panels are providing it with power.
Posted at 7:35am PST - The vents on WISE's cooling tank, or cryostat, have opened.
Posted at 7:16am PST - Engineers have acquired a signal from the WISE spacecraft.
Posted at 7:08am PST - WISE has separated from its rocket and is now in orbit around Earth.
Posted at 6:22am PST - The Delta II rocket's main engine has completed its burn, and the second stage has ignited. The nose cone covering WISE has split open like a clamshell and fallen away as expected.
Posted at 6:10am PST - WISE has launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
All systems are "Go" for the Monday morning launch attempt of NASA'S Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The weather forecast calls for 80-percent favorable conditions at launch time. A tower around the rocket that will boost WISE to space was rolled back tonight. WISE is safely tucked inside the rocket's nose cone.
The launch window opens at 6:09:33 a.m. PST (9:09:33 a.m. EST). The WISE space telescope will scan the whole sky in infrared light, uncovering hidden cosmic objects, like the coolest stars, dark asteroids and the most luminous galaxies.
