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This
animation shows a schematic of WISE’s orbit. WISE
will be placed in an orbit that takes it over the north
and south poles of Earth and several hundred miles above
the dividing line between day and night on Earth—called
the terminator. As it circles Earth, WISE will be oriented
so as to keep its solar panels always facing the Sun. Also,
the satellite will rotate once per orbit so that the telescope
will always be pointed away from Earth, straight up into
the sky. Since the telescope is always facing the sky at
90° to the Sun, it can make observations of the sky
throughout its orbit.
Launch MPEG:
288
x 240 (1.5MB)
320
x 240 (1.9MB)
Launch Quicktime:
320
x 240 (358KB)
400
x 300 (716KB)
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