A BAE Systems space computer has taken flight on a NASA satellite that is creating an infrared map of the universe. The BAE Systems RAD750® computer processes data and performs other critical functions aboard NASA’s WISE (Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer) satellite, built by Ball Aerospace and launched on December 14th.

The radiation-hardened computer processes large volumes of scientific data, manages the satellite’s directional orientation, and runs the software that keeps the spacecraft in orbit. WISE will produce a complete infrared map of the universe to enable scientists to see space objects that are not visible with most telescopes, such as asteroids and ultra-luminous galaxies. The 10-month mission will provide a map to guide future telescope missions such as NASA’s James Webb Telescope, set to launch in 2014. BAE Systems has been building radiation-hardened computers since the early 1990s. The latest version, the RAD750, was developed through a partnership among BAE Systems, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.