WISE: From the Dimmest Stars to the most Luminous Galaxies!

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) Mission, led by UCLA PI Dr. Edward L. Wright is a newly selected MIDEX Mission, scheduled to launch in Summer 2008. WISE will conduct a survey of the entire sky in the infrared (3.5 - 23 microns) with far greater sensitivity than any previous program or mission. WISE will catalogue more than 100,000 asteroids, discover the coolest, dimmest, and nearest stars to the Sun, and determine which are the most luminous galaxies in the Universe. The WISE survey will consist of over a million images, from which hundreds of millions of astronomical objects will be catalogued, providing a vast storehouse of knowledge about the Solar System, the Milky Way, and the Universe. We will discuss our plans for an Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) program for WISE, including how our program will leverage resources from other IR mission E/PO programs such as Spitzer and SOFIA. We will also discuss our plans to partner with the amateur astronomer community to reach out to the K-12 education community, including underserved communities.

The University of California, Berkeley's SEGway group from the Space Sciences Laboratory will lead the E/PO efforts of the WISE Mission with formal and informal education partners such as NOAO, Hands-On-Universe, the American Museum of Natural History, Space Science Institute, Space Dynamics Laboratory, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and Cornerstone Evaluations. The outreach program of WISE will captivate a wide range of audiences in the formal and informal science education communities with beautiful imagery and engaging science.