Share the post "NASA’s NEOWISE Mission: Uncovering the Unknown in the Cosmos, Until the End"
NASA’s NEOWISE mission, which was launched over 10 years ago to detect distant stars and galaxies, as well as to observe comets and asteroids in near-Earth space, has come to an end. The WISE spacecraft was launched in 2009 with the initial task of mapping space using infrared cameras. After a break of several years, the spacecraft was reoriented to track potential threats to Earth from space, and the mission was renamed NEOWISE. Since 2013, the mission has detected 215 comets and asteroids using its device. However, the increasing solar activity associated with the approaching peak of the 11-year solar cycle has interfered with the further work of the orbital telescope, causing it to gradually descend into Earth’s atmosphere. According to specialists’ calculations, the spacecraft will completely descend from orbit and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere by 2025.
During its mission, NEOWISE discovered unique comets, observed over 3000 near-Earth objects, supported international planetary protection strategies, and much more. NEOWISE’s vast archive of data will continue to be used by future researchers to make new discoveries. NEOWISE was originally launched as the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) in 2009, and it was repurposed for the NEOWISE mission in 2013.
NEOWISE’s primary mission was to hunt for asteroids and comets, including those that could pose a threat to Earth. During its four-year survey from 2013 to 2017, NEOWISE identified and gathered data on the size and other key measurements of asteroids and comets. NEOWISE detected more than 158,000 minor planets, 34,000 of which had never been discovered previously. NEOWISE data have been used to set limits on the numbers, orbits, sizes, and probable compositions of asteroids throughout our solar system, and enabled the discovery of the first asteroid discovered that shared Earth’s orbit.
NEOWISE’s vast archive of data has been used to study distant galaxies, cool stars, exploding white dwarf stars, outgassing comets, near-Earth asteroids, and more. NEOWISE and NEO Surveyor support the objectives of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office.
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/neowise
https://www.space.com/nasa-neowise-asteroid-mission-end-solar-activity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide-field_Infrared_Survey_Explorer
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/neowise/
https://neowise.ipac.caltech.edu/
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/wpparagraph-pArtificial-intelligence-ecOPbonHSByhgeyGGvkrWA?s=u
NEOWISE’s enduring legacy lies in its data archive, a valuable resource for future space exploration. I look forward to many discoveries and news from NASA in space exploration.
I really enjoyed the post and the fascinating information presented in it. In the future more and more advanced mission may be launched in the space to complete complex tasks.