Pre-Launch Characterization of the WISE Payload

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Proceedings of SPIE

Issue

7731

Publication Date

1-1-2010

Abstract

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), launched in December 2009, is a NASA-funded Explorer mission that is providing an all-sky survey in the mid-infrared with far greater sensitivity and resolution than any previous IR survey mission. The Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory designed, fabricated, and characterized the science payload, which is a cryogenically cooled infrared telescope with four 1024x1024 infrared focal plane arrays covering from 2.8 to 26 μm. Pre-launch characterization included measuring focus, image quality, repeatability, response nonlinearity, saturation, latency, absolute response, flatfield, point response function, scanner linearity, and relative spectral response. This paper provides a brief overview of the payload, discusses pre-launch characterization methods, and presents key performance results from ground characterization and early on-orbit performance.

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