NASA Firing Up Old Telescope to Search for Near-Earth Asteroids
Last used two years ago
The eyes of WISE are back in commission. After lying dormant for more than two years, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer will emerge from hibernation in September to assist in the asteroid initiative laid out by President Obama. The space agency has dubbed the revival NEOWISE.
Despite scuffles in Congress over where NASA would best direct its efforts—lassoing asteroids or more manned missions to the moon—the space agency is moving forward with its plans to identify potentially dangerous near-Earth objects (NEOs), as well as the more ambitious goal of capturing and relocating an asteroid. WISE's reactivation seems to be the first step in that process as this spacecraft resumes its mission of hunting for new space objects.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?