WIRE Problem

Mike DiMuzio (mdimuzio@cisnet.com)
Sat, 06 Mar 1999 02:29:29 +0000

> 
> MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
> JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
> CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
> NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
> PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
> http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
> 
> Contact:  Lynn Jenner
>           NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
>           (301) 286-0045
> 
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                          March 5, 1999
> 
> PROBLEM REPORTED ON NASA'S WIDE-FIELD INFRARED EXPLORER
> 
>      After a successful launch last night from Vandenberg Air
> Force Base, Calif., NASA's Wide-field Infrared Explorer (WIRE)
> spacecraft began to experience attitude control problems during
> its second pass over the ground station at Poker Flat, Alaska.
> 
>      It is not yet known specifically what caused the orientation
> malfunction on the spacecraft and a further investigation, now
> underway, is being done to assess the problem.
> 
>      An aberration was detected during the second pass over the
> Alaskan station, and confirmed on the third pass.  The WIRE
> launch and science teams are reviewing and assessing the data
> stream from the spacecraft to try to determine the nature of the
> problem.
> 
>      Further updates will be released as information concerning
> WIRE's anomaly is obtained.
> 
>      The WIRE observatory consists of a three-axis-stabilized
> spacecraft designed, built and tested by the Small Explorer
> Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.,
> and a cryogenically cooled infrared telescope provided by the Jet
> Propulsion Laboratory.
> 
>                             #####
> 

-- 
41.087N  80.714W 305 meters

Mike DiMuzio    mdimuzio@cisnet.com