NASA’s NEOWISE spacecraft, which spent over a decade scanning the skies for asteroids and comets that could potentially threaten Earth, has officially reached the end of its mission. The final image captured by NEOWISE shows a part of the Fornax constellation in the Southern Hemisphere, marking the end of an era for this asteroid hunter.
Although the image may not be visually striking to the average person, it holds significant value to the scientists and engineers who have worked on the NEOWISE mission. Amy Mainzer, an astronomer at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the principal investigator for NEOWISE, described the spacecraft as “the little space telescope that could,” emphasizing the importance of its work in identifying potential threats from space.
Originally launched in 2009 as WISE, the spacecraft was designed to study faraway cosmic objects emitting infrared light. However, during its observations, scientists discovered that WISE was also adept at detecting asteroids. In fact, it made significant discoveries such as the first asteroid sharing an orbit with Earth and provided valuable data on space rocks like Dinkinesh.
Following its initial survey, NASA extended the mission and rebranded it as NEOWISE, focusing specifically on asteroid detection in the solar system’s main asteroid belt. The spacecraft operated until 2011 when it was placed in hibernation mode by the space agency.
The legacy of NEOWISE lives on in the data it collected and the insights it provided into the realm of near-Earth objects. While the spacecraft may have reached the end of its operational life, its contributions to our understanding of asteroids and comets will continue to be valuable for years to come.
As we bid farewell to NASA’s asteroid hunter, NEOWISE, we reflect on its achievements and the impact it has had on our knowledge of the cosmos. The final image captured by NEOWISE serves as a reminder of the spacecraft’s dedicated mission to protect our planet from potential cosmic threats, leaving a lasting legacy in the world of space exploration.
