NASA Universe-Watching Satellite Losing Its Cool

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday August 12, 2010 @04:21AM from the grandma-made-it-a-sweater dept.

coondoggie writes "NASA this week said its Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE satellite is heating up — not a good thing when your primary mission instrument needs to be kept cold to work. According to NASA, WISE has two coolant tanks that keep the spacecraft's normal operating temperature at 12 Kelvin (minus 438 degrees Fahrenheit). The outer, secondary tank is now depleted, causing the temperature to increase. One of WISE's infrared detectors, the longest-wavelength band most sensitive to heat, stopped producing useful data once the telescope warmed to 31 Kelvin (minus 404 degrees Fahrenheit)."

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Re:Orbit by snookerhog · 2010-08-12 04:28 · Score: 2, Interesting

depends on whether the primary source of the offending heat is internal or external.
(no i did not RTFA)
Re:Fahrenheit... by blair1q · 2010-08-12 04:56 · Score: 2, Interesting

Laymen don't understand thermodynamics at any temperature. It's not about temperature, it's about pretending there's a problem and engaging people's antagonistic streak towards government, which they also don't understand at any temperature.
Re:It's warming up--pretty much on schedule by barzok · 2010-08-12 05:05 · Score: 4, Interesting

Maybe we've just become accustomed to NASA missions far exceeding their expected duration.