Managing the development of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission

Abstract

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), a NASA Medium-Class Explorer (MIDEX) mission, is surveying the entire sky in four bands from 3.4 to 22 microns with a sensitivity hundreds to hundreds of thousands times better than previous all-sky surveys at these wavelengths. The single WISE instrument consists of a 40 cm three-mirror anastigmatic telescope, a two-stage solid hydrogen cryostat, a scan mirror mechanism, and reimaging optics giving 6″ resolution (fullwidth-half-maximum). WISE was placed into a Sun-synchronous polar orbit on a Delta II 7320 launch vehicle on December 14, 2009. NASA selected WISE as a MIDEX in 2002 following a rigorous competitive selection process. To gain further confidence in WISE, NASA extended the development period one year with an option to cancel the mission if certain criteria were not met. MIDEX missions are led by the principal investigator who in this case delegated day-today management to the project manager. With a cost cap and relatively short development schedule, it was essential for all WISE partners to work seamlessly together. This was accomplished with an integrated management team representing all key partners and disciplines. The project was developed on budget and on schedule in spite of the need to surmount significant technical challenges. This paper describes our management approach, key challenges and critical decisions made. Results are described from a programmatic, technical and scientific point of view. Lessons learned are offered for projects of this type.

The WISE science payload: management lessons learned

“…10 . We believe these program cultural expectations proved to be a key component of the mission success.…”

“…It was first tested stand-alone to validate the cryostat structure and, in fact, failed under its first test, saving WISE from a potentially mission-ending failure of the flight cryostat 10,11 . It was later used during thermal-vac testing to validate performance of the integrated flight system, while the actual science instrument was undergoing performance testing in parallel.…”

“…Solution: We pulled the hardware before testing was complete and accepted the programmatic risk of completing the testing at the payload level 10 .…”

The WISE satellite development: managing the risks and the opportunities

“…The WISE project manager actively implemented a culture of broad and open communication between the satellite contractors, JPL, and the WISE scientists. 3 Each month he held a senior management meeting that included the participation of the contractor managers and system engineers. The meeting had a face-to-face format and the location rotated among all the participants' home facilities.…”

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) beamsplitter assembly

“…The Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission 1,2 and the WISE payload 3 has been described in recent papers. This paper describes the WISE Beamsplitter Assembly (BSA) that splits optical output from the WISE telescope into 4 spectral bands and contains the 4 WISE focal plane assemblies (FPA).…”