Slashdot Mirror


NASA Universe-Watching Satellite Losing Its Cool

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)."

4 of 153 comments (clear)

  1. Global warming caused it to get too hot? by mysidia · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    [j/k]

  2. Not just one satellite... by hsthompson69 · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Apparently their problems include the NOAA-16 satellite too:

    http://www.climatechangefraud.com/climate-reports/7491-official-satellite-failure-means-decade-of-global-warming-data-doubtful

    "readings for June and July 2010 for Lake Michigan showed crazy temperatures off the scale ranging in the low to mid hundreds - with some parts of the Wisconsin area apparently reaching 612 F."

  3. YOU fAI8L IT! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    the leongest or

  4. tro7l by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic