Prof. Wright is interested in infrared astronomy and cosmology. He is the PI on the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) which launched on 14 Dec 2009, and finished its first coverage of the whole sky on 17 Jul 2010. As of May 2024, WISE is still observing at 3.4 and 4.6 μm, but the orbit is decaying fairly fast. WISE is in the middle of its 15th year, and has surveyed the whole sky 23 times. WISE is currently operating as a Planetary Defense mission looking for hazardous asteroids. Wright is currently deputy PI for the Near Earth Object Surveyor, formerly NEOCam, an improved infrared asteroid survey planned by NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office.