NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer known as NEOWISE Telescope is preparing for its final performance. After a remarkable decade of service to space and astronomy, this infrared space telescope will soon meet its fiery end.
NEOWISE
This telescope was launched in December 2009 it discovered thousands of minor planets and many star clusters during starting of the mission it was named WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer). WISE discovered thousands of planets and millions of black holes. It’s the first telescope to discover a Y-type brown dwarf and Earth trojan asteroid.
Firstly, the mission duration was planned for only 10 months, but to date, it’s been working for 14 years, 6 months, and 22 days. The NEOWISE satellite bus was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies in Boulder, Colorado.
A Decade of Discovery
NEOWISE was initially designed to survey the entire sky in infrared light. However, in 2014, it took on a more important role, studying Near-Earth Asteroids and comets. Over the past ten years, NEOWISE has been a workhorse, tirelessly working like office workers observing the cosmos and providing invaluable data for astronomers.
By conducting an inventory of dark, dim near-Earth objects that are challenging to see using ground-based telescopes, the mission revealed that a sizeable portion of the population of near-Earth objects consists of these objects.
Time-Domain Survey
NEOWISE’s unique long-duration survey captures how celestial objects change over extended periods. This approach, known as time-domain astronomy, allows scientists to track distant variable stars as they fluctuate in brightness and witness faraway black holes flaring as they devour matter. But NEOWISE’s primary focus lies closer to home – our local cosmic neighborhood.
At the start of 2011, NEOWISE discovered many new objects in the Solar System. During it’s first phase the spacecraft found 158,000 minor planets, including more than 35,000 newly discovered objects.
After completion of a full scan of the asteroid belt, on 1 February 2011, mission controllers put the spacecraft in hibernation mode. NASA said on August 21, 2013, that it would recommission NEOWISE to carry out its goal of finding potentially hazardous asteroids and near-Earth objects (NEO).
In September 2013, NEOWISE was successfully taken out of hibernation and took the first post-hibernation photograph on 19 December 2013. After hibernation With its coolant depleted, the spacecraft’s temperature was reduced from −73 °C to an operating temperature of −198.2 °C by having the telescope fixed into deep space.
Protecting Earth
NEOWISE plays a crucial role in NASA’s planetary defense strategy. By changing the orbits of asteroids and comets, it helps us assess potential hazards. For instance, the potentially hazardous asteroid Apophis, set to make a close approach in 2029, has been closely monitored by NEOWISE.
Now, here’s the bittersweet news, NEOWISE’s mission will end on July 31, 2024. By that date, it will enter dense atmospheres and burn up, leaving behind a legacy of scientific discovery. Unfortunately, NASA has no way to alter this fate. The Aerospace Administration is preparing to bid farewell to the telescope that has served us so well.
The infrared space telescope that searches for asteroids and comets has made an amazing amount of observations, but the Sun is currently quickening its decline.
Our atmosphere is heating up and expanding due to solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which are signs of the Sun beginning a cycle of heightened activity. As a result of the increasing drag on Earth-orbiting satellites, NEOWISE will soon be unable to maintain its altitude.
While NEOWISE’s journey concludes, NASA’s next-generation infrared mission, NEO Surveyor, will continue the quest for knowledge. On August 8, 2024, mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will send a command that puts NEOWISE into hibernation for the last time.
