Long-term individual recovery for the IRAS mission

IRAS (Infrared Astronomical Satellite) was launched on January 25, 1983 with the primary purpose of performing an infrared survey of the entire celestial sphere. Holes were left in the main survey when some areas received less than the minimum 2-layer coverage. A second survey filled in many of these holes; however, many still required long-term individual recovery. The result was a smooth survey with 96 percent of the sky covered to the desired depth of 2 or more layers.