The FINANCIAL — According to RIA Novosti, NASA is set to launch a Delta II rocket on December 14 carrying a space observation telescope that scientists hope will show up previously hidden cosmic objects.
The rocket is scheduled to blast off at 06:09:33 PST (14:09 GMT) from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) "will circle Earth over the poles, scanning the entire sky one-and-a-half times in nine months. The mission will uncover hidden cosmic objects, including the coolest stars, dark asteroids and the most luminous galaxies," the space agency said.
Scientists say the telescope's image detectors are 1,000 times more sensitive to infrared features than previous survey telescopes.
The first launch attempt was scheduled for December 11, but was delayed due to a booster steering engine fault.
Discussion about this post