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The Power of NASA’s WFIRST Space Telescope


Waspie_Dwarf

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Simulated Image Demonstrates the Power of NASA’s Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope

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Imagine a fleet of 100 Hubble Space Telescopes, deployed in a strategic space-invader-shaped array a million miles from Earth, scanning the universe at warp speed.

With NASA's Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope, scheduled for launch in the mid-2020s, this vision will (effectively) become reality.

WFIRST will capture the equivalent of 100 high-resolution Hubble images in a single shot, imaging large areas of the sky 1,000 times faster than Hubble. In several months, WFIRST could survey as much of the sky in near-infrared light — in just as much detail — as Hubble has over its entire three decades.

arrow3.gif Read More: NASA

 

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With each pointing, WFIRST will cover an area roughly 1⅓ times that of the full Moon. By comparison, each individual infrared Hubble image covers an area less than 1% of the full Moon.

This is really exciting!  

Edited by joc
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Wow! Thats the real hot stuff.

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20 minutes ago, joc said:

This is really exciting!  

 

4 minutes ago, toast said:

Wow! Thats the real hot stuff.

It's amazing what you can do with a second-hand spy satellite isn't it.

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52 minutes ago, Imaginarynumber1 said:

Mid 2020's? I want it NOW! 

 

Yeah and I want a Ferrari, I guess we'll both be disappointed.

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1 hour ago, Imaginarynumber1 said:

Mid 2020's? I want it NOW! 

 

But...it is always NOW...

Honestly, space exploration is happening at such a high volume it is hard to keep up with.  That's why I really appreciate this particular part of the forum...I'm guessing most people aren't even aware that China has a Rover on the Dark Side of the Moon...I didn't... but it's all very fascinating once you realize what we are actually doing...

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  • 1 month later...

NASA Approves Development of Universe-Studying, Planet-Finding Mission

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NASA’s Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) project has passed a critical programmatic and technical milestone, giving the mission the official green light to begin hardware development and testing.

The WFIRST space telescope will have a viewing area 100 times larger than that of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, which will enable it to detect faint infrared signals from across the cosmos while also generating enormous panoramas of the universe, revealing secrets of dark energy, discovering planets outside our solar system (exoplanets), and addressing a host of other astrophysics and planetary science topics.

arrow3.gif Read More: NASA

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

NASA to consider WFIRST launch options after mission passes key review

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NASA expects to select a launch vehicle next year to carry the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope — a multibillion-dollar flagship astrophysics observatory targeted for cancellation by the Trump administration — into space in 2025 after the mission passed a key review last month, agency officials said.

WFIRST is NASA’s next flagship-class astronomy mission after the James Webb Space Telescope, which is scheduled for launch in 2021 after years of delays and ballooning costs.

arrow3.gif Read More: Spaceflight Now

 

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