Sunrise Session
John Elwell
Mapping the Sky in Infrared Light: The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer is a NASA mission, launched in December 2009, to survey our galaxy and beyond in infrared light. WISE completed its highly successful, all-sky survey in July 2010 with millions of images collected. The science community and the public have seen nearly daily discoveries of previously unknown astronomical objects, including asteroids, brown dwarfs, and ultra-luminous infrared galaxies. The science payload is a telescope with four, infrared focal plane arrays, and characterized by the Space Dynamics Laboratory, part of Utah State University Research Foundation.
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John D. ElwellWISE Program Manager |
John Elwell attended the University of Utah as an undergraduate, earning a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. After several years developing electronics for the oil and gas industry, in 1987, Mr. Elwell joined the Space Dynamics Laboratory. He completed his master’s degree while working on various research instruments, primarily infrared instrumentation for space- based missions. These instruments have advanced the study of the earth’s atmosphere, weather and climate, as well as astrophysics research for both the Department of Defense and NASA. His contributions have ranged from design and calibration through systems engineering to program management for the WISE mission. As the highly effective WISE mission comes to an end, he has recently become the program manager for an innovative project in weather prediction, the Sounding and Tracking Observatory for Regional Meteorology satellite. STORM’s infrared instrumentation may well be the future of real-time, extreme weather prediction.
