This Transmission Is Coming To You
This is just a quick note to let you know that there’s a new podcast on WISE that we recorded for the International Year of Astronomy’s 365 Days of Astronomy program.
You can check it out here.
Now that we’re less than two months from the WISE launch, you should start seeing a little more about the mission in the news. We have a Facebook page now and a twitter feed (not much on either of these yet, but stay tuned). Final preparations are underway, and soon we’ll begin the final cooldown procedure to fill the cryogen tank with solid hydrogen. There will be one last functional test of our four detector arrays as soon as we get cold. So we’re getting ready for that. And we’ve passed our Operational Readiness Review; the next big one is the Flight Readiness Review at the end of the month.
But of course, the big news around here is that it finally rained for the first time since April! So exciting to finally get some rain since we’re in the middle of a pretty bad drought. I actually got to use my umbrella! Weather junkie that I am, here are the graphs of last year’s rainfall; it only rained 7 times last year. The only good news about the drought is that it means that the WISE launch is unlikely to get scrubbed because of the weather, I suppose.
October 15th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Very cool - I didn’t realize you could make historic graphs like that in Weather Underground. It’s a little depressing to see how little rain we got last season. Let’s hope we get a lot more wet weather, except during the WISE launch, of course
October 16th, 2009 at 12:25 am
This is great. I’m psyched!!!
October 16th, 2009 at 2:55 am
amy you are amazing!!!
October 16th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
We’ll send a little rain over from the Southeast.
October 16th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
I just listed to the podcast. Good stuff. If I didn’t know it was you I would have recognized your voice from The Universe series. I didn’t realize you pronounced your last name “Mine-zer”.
This is the first NASA mission I’ve followed and I’m looking forward to going along for the ride. Like you said in the podcast it will be exciting to see what WISE finds that no one was expecting.
October 16th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Seriously, I hope our feedback gives you some idea of how valuable your blog and the ones connected to it are to us nerds. One day some 17 year old is going to compile all the info in her head and go “Oh! I get it”, and then explain to the rest of us what’s really going on.
October 17th, 2009 at 12:37 am
Wow, this is so exciting! You must be thrilled to be this close to launch. How long have you been working on WISE? How did you get started on it?
October 19th, 2009 at 1:53 am
i cant understand these complex things
but i whana be scientist
so amy if u don`mind u can sduggest some guide •••
and tell ordinary people how u get so high lvl thinking o.O
did u meditate on places that have science rain or
u use artifical inteligence
October 19th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
As our knowledge increases, does the universe to you become more sensible, or does it lead to more questions and make the universe more mysterious?
October 19th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Where do you live that it only rains 9 times a year? Here in DFW area it rained 15 inches in the last 6 weeks. No space missions from here
October 21st, 2009 at 2:37 am
Hi Amy!
Where do you live it rains 7 times a year? It is in Los Angeles? Seems the Atacama Desert!
October 21st, 2009 at 11:44 pm
Let’s hope that WISE gets off the ground as scheduled since it looks like a scrub and launch set-back will take you into the March/April timeframe (based on last years historical rain data).
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:08 am
Wait a few days and you can have some of the snow we are expecting. Already had hail last weekend.
October 28th, 2009 at 2:08 am
Please, please all of you in places with rain - send some our way! You’d think that Los Angeles was the Atacama Desert, judging from our rainfall these last few years. And our local climatologist at JPL, Bill Patzert, says that it’s going to stay like this for decades. Hello, water rationing!
Jane, I started working on WISE in November, 2003, just after the launch of the Spitzer Space Telescope, and about six months after I got my Ph.D. I had worked with the WISE Project Scientist, Peter Eisenhardt, on Spitzer, and I knew the WISE Principal Investigator (Ned Wright) from UCLA and Spitzer. Peter needed a deputy, and I needed a job. So guys, if you’re reading this, thanks! It’s been a great six years.
October 28th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Amy,
It’s nice to see you on the new season of The Universe. It’s one of my favorite programs.
Paul
November 4th, 2009 at 1:40 am
Dr.Mainzer,
I just wanted to say how much I admire you and your work, as well as that of your colleagues. As an amatuer astronomer, I look up to you pro’s with great appreciation. Keep on doing what you’re doing because there’s a lot of us out here cheering for you. Afterall, its the stuff you all discover that turns us on.
On a side note - may I have whatever Erf is on? Yeah.
Best Wishes,
T
November 4th, 2009 at 2:03 am
Very Nice!..
Title is a obscure reference to The Crystal Method’s Vegas album
All of us guy from Lab#7 “Just can’t get enough” of you on The Universe.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Amy,
What i like about your presentations is your method of communication which is simple uncluttered and to the point. In order for people to be able to understand what you are trying to say you must say it in a manner that they can easily grasp and your presentations have a kind of down-to-earthedness that is both refreshing, functional and educational. I think you would be an excellent teacher.
regards
kenwyn
November 9th, 2009 at 2:20 am
Amy,
In the Chicago area, we had 21 days of rain for the first 22 days of October. Please, take some! Have at it. Please send some sun our way. Everyone would love and appreciate it!