Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope

Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope is a planned flagship astronomy mission led by NASA with significant contributions from the international scientific community. Designed to operate at the Sun–Earth L2 point, it will conduct a wide-area survey of the infrared sky with unprecedented sensitivity. The mission aims to address fundamental questions in cosmology and exoplanet science, building upon the legacy of predecessors like the Hubble Space Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope.

Overview

Conceived as a top-priority mission in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's 2010 Astro2010 Decadal Survey, the telescope represents a major advancement in space observatory capabilities. It is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory responsible for key instrument components. The mission's design emphasizes a large field of view and advanced coronagraph technology, enabling both expansive surveys and detailed studies of individual astronomical objects. Its strategic placement at a Lagrange point ensures a stable thermal environment critical for infrared observations.

Development and launch

The project's development followed recommendations from the Astro2010 Decadal Survey, which identified it as the top-ranked large space mission. Early formulation studies involved teams at NASA Headquarters, the Space Telescope Science Institute, and numerous university partners. Following a major redesign and rebudgeting exercise, the mission received formal confirmation from NASA for implementation. The launch is scheduled for the mid-2020s aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. After launch, it will undergo a several-month commissioning phase before beginning its primary science operations.

Mission objectives

The primary science goals are divided into two key themes: unraveling the mysteries of dark energy and directly imaging exoplanets. It will investigate the expansion history of the universe by measuring the distances to millions of galaxies and tracking the distribution of dark matter through weak gravitational lensing. In the realm of planetary science, the mission will use a sophisticated starshade-like coronagraph to characterize the atmospheres of Neptune-sized and smaller planets orbiting nearby stars. Additional objectives include studying the formation and evolution of galaxy clusters and surveying Solar System objects like Kuiper belt bodies.

Instrumentation and capabilities

The observatory features a 2.4-meter primary mirror and is equipped with two main instruments. The Wide Field Instrument will image large swaths of the sky across multiple infrared bands, from the visible spectrum to the near-infrared. The Coronagraph Instrument is a technology demonstration that will suppress starlight by factors of billions to enable direct imaging and spectroscopy of exoplanet atmospheres. Key capabilities include a field of view 100 times larger than that of the Hubble Space Telescope's Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer and the sensitivity to detect infrared signatures from the earliest epochs of cosmic history.

Scientific discoveries and legacy

Although not yet launched, the mission is projected to transform several fields of astrophysics. It is expected to produce a three-dimensional map of cosmic structure that will constrain models of dark energy with greater precision than the Dark Energy Survey or the Euclid spacecraft. In exoplanet science, it may provide the first atmospheric spectra of potentially habitable worlds, informing the search for biosignatures. The vast archival dataset will serve as a fundamental resource for the global astronomy community, much like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, guiding future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope and the Giant Magellan Telescope.

Category:NASA space telescopes Category:Infrared telescopes Category:Planned space telescopes