Heat-seeking WISE spacecraft to scan the skies

Infrared instrument promises bonanza of finds, from asteroids to remote galaxies

Editor’s note: After this story was posted, the WISE craft lifted off at 9:09 a.m. EST on December 14 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. A Delta II rocket deposited the craft into a polar orbit hundreds of kilometers above Earth. A later boost will put the craft into a circular orbit at an altitude of 525 kilometers.