For the first time in over a quarter-century, NASA has launched an infared mapping satellite to make a comprehensive IR wavelength survey of the entire sky. The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) was launched from Vandenberg AFB atop a Delta II booster on a ten-month mission to image the heavens in infrared, which should give unprecedented detail on objects ranging from near-Earth asteroids to brown dwarfs and galaxies millions of light-years away.
Space Vehicles - A History in Patents