After achieving great success studying near-Earth asteroids, NASA’s spacecraft NEOWISE burned up in the atmosphere on November 1. Launched in 2009, the spacecraft met its fate due to the solar maximum beginning in October 2024. Having examined over 3,000 celestial bodies, NEOWISE will pass on its mission to the new NEO Surveyor telescope set to launch in 2027. NASA’s spacecraft NEOWISE concluded its successful 15-year mission.
In an announcement on November 2, it was revealed that the spacecraft ended its mission by burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere as anticipated. Launched in December 2009, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) was designed to explore the universe in infrared wavelengths. Successfully performing its task for a year, WISE detected numerous galaxies and black holes.
However, due to a malfunction in its cooling system, the spacecraft became unable to detect the infrared light emitted by distant objects. NASA reassigned the spacecraft as NEOWISE to observe near-Earth objects again. Since 2013, NEOWISE has examined approximately 3,000 celestial bodies in near-Earth orbits like asteroids, showing remarkable performance in this field. The end of NEOWISE came due to the solar maximum starting in October 2024. During the 11-year peak of the sun’s cycle, frequent and intense solar flares occur, impacting NEOWISE in its low Earth orbit as it lacked the equipment to protect itself from these flares. NASA terminated NEOWISE’s mission in July. Nicola Fox from NASA highlighted the significance of NEOWISE in tracking potential threats like asteroids and comets, emphasizing its contribution to understanding our place in the universe. The mission was described as an extraordinary success story.
The task of monitoring near-Earth objects will now be taken over by the space telescope named “NEO Surveyor.” NASA points out that this telescope, set to launch in 2027, will be the first spacecraft specially built to inspect near-Earth objects, succeeding the role of NEOWISE.