A satellite built to observe infrared light from newborn stars in distant
galaxies has spun out of control. The Wide-Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE)
blasted off on 4 March. As soon as it hit orbit, however, NASA mission
controllers discovered that a leak of hydrogen from its cooling system was
causing the craft to spin at 60 revolutions per minute. The spin began to
stabilise over the weekend, and as 51¶¯Âþ went to press, engineers were
working to slow it down still further. But the satellite is already useless: the
lost hydrogen was needed to cool WIRE’s infrared detectors.
More from 51¶¯Âþ
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Health
The mysterious reason why women get hotter from age 18 to 42
51¶¯Âþ
Comment
This is the most underrated sci-fi film franchise of the 21st century
Culture
Comment
Shiver me timbers: Do we have to worry about space pirates now?
Regulars
Life
PMOS shows us why many scientific terms need to be renamed
Leader
Popular articles
Trending 51¶¯Âþ articles
1
Mystery of the ancient giant stone jars of Laos may have been solved
2
The Selfish Gene at 50: Why Dawkins’s evolution classic still holds up
3
The ‘doomsday’ glacier’s giant ice shelf is about to break away
4
We could generate hydrogen from rocks while storing CO2 in them
5
Wind-assisted cargo ships could more than halve shipping emissions
6
Solar farm on the ocean outperforms land-based solar in Taiwan
7
The distant world that is our best hope of finding alien life
8
Can we harness quantum effects to create a new kind of healthcare?
9
The hidden pockets of the universe where the future can cause the past
10
We may finally know why dinosaurs like T. rex evolved tiny arms
