WISE focal plane module lessons learned in light of success

DRS Sensors & Targeting Systems, under contract to the Space Dynamics Laboratory of Utah State University, provided the focal plane detector system for NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). The focal plane detector system consists of two mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) focal plane module assemblies (FPMAs), two arsenic doped silicon (Si:As) Blocked Impurity Band (BIB) FPMAs, electronics to drive the FPMAs and report digital data from them, and the cryogenic and ambient temperature cabling that connect the FPMAs and electronics. The WISE Satellite was launched in late 2009 and has been a very rewarding success. In light of the recent success on orbit, there were many challenges and hurdles the DRS team had to overcome in order to guarantee the ultimate success of the instrument. This report highlights a few of the challenges that the team overcame in hopes that the information can be made available to the astronomy community for future use.