December 14, 2009

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer launched on Dec. 14, 2009, at 9:09 a.m EST from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., aboard a ULA Delta II rocket. A SoftRide whole-spacecraft isolation system provided by CSA Engineering supported the WISE satellite in order to reduce known launch loads and to prevent damage to the spacecraft's delicate sensing equipment. WISE will provide scientists with a vast amount of data about the solar system, the Milky Way and the Universe by scanning the entire sky with infrared light.

The entire mission has been administrated by NASA/JPL and originally did not include a SoftRide system. Through preliminary loads analysis, NASA engineers discovered a potentially detrimental interaction between the launch vehicle and WISE's main telescope. A redesign and requalification of the structure was not an option due to cost and schedule impacts. Since CSA had been previously brought in to assist the JPL led OSTM spacecraft which also launched on the Delta II, CSA was again tapped to provide a timely and cost-effective solution.

This was CSA Engineering's twentieth launch of a SoftRide system and the second system for the Delta II launch vehicle. The other vehicles which have used SoftRide include the Minotaur I, Falcon I, Delta IV, Atlas, Taurus, and the Pegasus.