Fifteen years after a launch that was supposed to start only a seven month mission, NASA’s NEOWISE spacecraft has lastly shut down. The Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer spacecraft surveyed the sky recognizing hundreds of asteroids inside our photo voltaic system, and made discoveries reminiscent of a striking comet that as named after it. The spacecraft has made years of scientific observations, however with its orbit slowly dropping, it has now been decommissioned and can dissipate harmlessly within the environment later this 12 months.
NEOWISE was a exceptional mission for a number of causes, considered one of which was that it was by no means supposed to be an asteroid statement mission in any respect. It was initially launched as WISE, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and checked out distant objects like galaxies within the infrared. Its authentic mission was profitable and so was prolonged, however inside a few years the spacecraft had used up the coolant required for a few of its detectors and it was put into hibernation.
Years later, in 2013, NASA wished a mission to search for asteroids and comets that come near Earth, referred to as near-Earth objects. Scientists realized that WISE might be reactivated for this job, utilizing its remaining detectors. The mission was reactivated as NEOWISE, and since then has taken photos of the sky, together with 1.45 million measurements of greater than 44,000 photo voltaic system objects. That together with detected over 3,000 near-Earth objects, 215 of which had by no means been noticed earlier than.
“The NEOWISE mission has been instrumental in our quest to map the skies and understand the near-Earth environment. Its huge number of discoveries have expanded our knowledge of asteroids and comets, while also boosting our nation’s planetary defense,” mentioned Laurie Leshin, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a statement. “As we bid farewell to NEOWISE, we also celebrate the team behind it for their impressive achievements.”
The remaining picture taken by NEOWISE exhibits the night time sky as seen within the path of the Fornax constellation. It was photos like these that allowed scientists to identify beforehand unseen objects, which may then be flagged for follow-up observations from telescopes on the bottom to see how these objects have been shifting and to work out their orbits — and whether or not they may pose any menace to Earth.
That function will quickly be taken up by a purpose-build spacecraft referred to as NEO Surveyor, which can use infrared to seek for dark-colored asteroids which may in any other case be missed and to examine whether or not any of those may come near the planet. NEO Surveyor is about to launch in 2027.
“The NEOWISE mission has been an extraordinary success story as it helped us better understand our place in the universe by tracking asteroids and comets that could be hazardous for us on Earth,” mentioned Nicola Fox, affiliate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “While we are sad to see this brave mission come to an end, we are excited for the future scientific discoveries it has opened by setting the foundation for the next-generation planetary defense telescope.”