Kristopher Posted December 14, 2009 Report Share Posted December 14, 2009 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/14/wise_launch/ Over six months, WISE will operate at an altitude of 525km, passing over the poles 15 times a day and snapping every 11 seconds through its 40-cm (16-inch) telescope to eventually capture around 1,500,000 images of the entire sky in the infrared "with a sensitivity hundreds of times greater than ever before". Why only six months? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristopher Posted December 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2009 Re: WISE Orbital Telescope Launched Well, I think I found out why the mission time is limited. Another article cited a mission time of 10 months, but the cause cited for the limit is the supply of coolant. It seems they went with a liquid hydrogen system to allow for greater sensitivity, at the expense of lifespan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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