Getting WISE With the Universe

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: This Planetary Radio episode covers Spirit’s grim but still scientifically valuable status on Mars, the freshly launched WISE infrared survey telescope and its mission goals, and Bruce Betts’s update on NASA’s New Frontiers finalists plus skywatching notes. The show mixes mission news, space science, and a contest/astronomy segment.

Main Topics: Spirit rover’s struggle and survival strategy: Emily Lakdawalla explains that Spirit is no longer expected to escape the sand trap; mission engineers are focusing on tilting the rover’s solar panels to survive the Martian winter and possibly conduct stationary science. WISE mission launch and scientific goals: Ned Wright describes WISE as a cold, wide-field infrared survey telescope designed to map hundreds of millions of objects, produce a detailed infrared atlas, and serve as a pathfinder for future telescopes. WISE engineering and cryogenic operation: The conversation explains why WISE must be extremely cold, how solid hydrogen and liquid helium are used, and how long the cooling system is expected to last before warm operations might begin. New Frontiers mission down-select: Bruce Betts reports NASA selected three finalists—Moonrise, OSIRIS-REx, and SAGE—for further study, each targeting major solar-system science goals and competing for a future medium-class mission slot. Night sky, meteor shower, and space history: Bruce gives a quick observing guide for Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn, notes the Quantrontids meteor shower, and marks Galileo’s 1610 discovery of Jupiter’s Galilean moons. Contest and planetary terminology: The segment closes with the answer to a previous trivia question about palimpsests and a new contest asking listeners how long the International Space Station is.

Key Arguments: Spirit is likely permanently stuck, but repositioning the rover by digging in deeper may improve solar-panel tilt and extend its life through winter. A stationary Spirit could still make useful science, including weather monitoring, mini-quake detection, and measurements related to Mars’s interior and core state. WISE fills a gap left by earlier infrared surveys by providing a much sharper, more sensitive all-sky infrared atlas. WISE will be useful both for direct discovery and as a finder chart for follow-up observations with Spitzer, Hubble, and James Webb. Cooling is essential because the telescope would otherwise detect its own infrared emission; the cryogenic design enables the instrument to see room-temperature objects in the universe. WISE’s galaxy catalog may contribute indirectly to dark energy research by improving maps of mass distribution and its effect on the cosmic microwave background. NASA’s New Frontiers competition has selected three strong and diverse science targets—Moon, asteroid, and Venus—each with a plausible path to major discovery. The Planetary Society uses the show to connect mission news with public engagement, including contests, membership promotion, and science storytelling.

Data Points: WISE launch date: December 14 - Launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California WISE lens-cover release: December 29 - Planned moment for opening the telescope optics after launch WISE operating temperature: about minus 440 degrees Fahrenheit - Needed so the telescope does not blind itself with its own infrared emission WISE cryogenic lifetime: about 10 months - Expected duration of solid hydrogen cooling after launch WISE lifetime uncertainty: plus or minus a month - Estimated variation around the 10-month cryogenic life WISE image sets per day: about 7,500 - Daily observing rate across four detector arrays WISE total image sets: about 2 million - Expected over the mission lifetime WISE detector count: 4 million pixels - Compared with older infrared surveys IRAS detector count: 62 pixels - Last whole-sky infrared survey mentioned by Ned Wright WISE wavelength range: 5 to 33 times longer than red light - Infrared bands covered by the telescope New Frontiers mission budget: $650 million - Approximate price tag for the medium-class mission line New Frontiers finalists count: 3 - Moonrise, OSIRIS-REx, and SAGE New Frontiers study funding: $3 million each for one year - Finalist missions received funding to prove feasibility New Frontiers launch window: until 2018 - Approximate deadline for the selected mission to launch Mars rover Spirit mission age: 6 years - Correction noted by Bruce Betts for the rover anniversary Mars rover nominal mission life: 90 days - Spirit far outlived its original planned lifetime Galileo discovery anniversary: 400 years - This week in 1610, marking the discovery of the Galilean moons

Pivotal Quotes: "Down but not out is spirit." — Emily Lakdawalla: Summary of Spirit rover’s status after the mission shifted from extraction to survival "WISE, of course, is an infrared telescope, and it’s also a wide-field telescope." — Ned Wright: Explanation of what makes WISE scientifically distinct "We believe in the PBJ, the passion, beauty, and joy of space exploration." — Bill Nye: Membership appeal and mission statement for the Planetary Society

Implications: Listeners come away with a clear picture of active planetary missions, a new infrared sky survey poised to reshape target selection for future astronomy, and NASA’s next major mission competition. The episode reinforces how engineering constraints, survey data, and public engagement all drive space exploration.