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Los Angeles Times: The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), which has been hibernating in Earth orbit since 2011, is about to come out of retirement: NASA needs it to look for asteroids. Because the space telescope uses IR radiation to detect objects, it is well suited to find near-Earth asteroids, which soak up and reradiate energy from the Sun. Light-based telescopes have more difficulty detecting asteroids, which can be either too dark to see or too shiny to accurately determine their size. The first step will be to cool down the telescope, which is currently at about 200 degrees above absolute zero. To allow the heat to dissipate, scientists plan to turn the telescope to face the cold background of deep space. Once it reaches about 75 degrees above absolute zero, it can be powered up and its instruments recalibrated.
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Retired NASA space telescope to start new mission Free
23 August 2013