NASA WISE Telescope Starts Taking Pics

coondoggie writes "NASA said its Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer spacecraft successfully popped the cover off its infrared telescope and began 'celestial treasure hunt' mission of sending back what will be millions of images of space. The WISE lens cap served as a safety system keeping the ultra-sensitive lens and telescope system safe until the spacecraft positioned itself correctly in orbit. The cap also served as the top to a 'bottle' that chille the instrument and detectors. This cryostat is a Thermos-like tank of solid hydrogen."

Comments

Re:Why...

[DNS-and-BIND]

Uh, guy? I'm not sure that they really need the hydrogen, being in a hard vacuum a couple degrees above absolute zero and all. Oh, and at least give the NASA guys credit for capitalizing Thermos as a proper noun and registered trademark. PS: the boiling point of hydrogen is 20 degrees K, interplanetary space is about 4 degrees K. PPS ProTip: If you're going to strut about starting your comments in the Subject: line and bashing NASA for being unscientific, please add more to the conversation than the top two Google results for "wise mission".