WISE/NEOWISE (Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared survey Explorer)

This illustration of NASA's WISE mission shows the spacecraft in shades of blue. WISE has a short, multi-sided cylindrical main body that connects to a thinner and longer open cylindrical piece. The craft's main body is attached to a large, flat panel on top.
An illustration of NASA's WISE spacecraft. The colors depicted in this illustration are for artistic purposes only.
NASA
December 20, 2022
CreditNASA
Historical DateDecember 20, 2022
Language
  • english

An illustration of NASA's WISE/NEOWISE spacecraft. The colors depicted in this illustration are for artistic purposes only.

The WISE mission mapped the entire sky in infrared light. It discovered the coolest and nearest brown dwarfs (objects that aren’t quite stars and aren’t quite planets), and the most luminous galaxies in the universe. In 2013, it was renamed NEOWISE and was given a new mission to help NASA identify and study near-Earth objects (NEOs), including comets and asteroids, in our planet's neighborhood.

Launched: December 14, 2009

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