NASA’s NEOWISE space telescope safely began burning up in Earth’s atmosphere on November 2, officially ending its 15-year mission to explore the universe and protect Earth.
The mission team ordered the end of the telescope’s science work on July 31. And this is the last image taken from this space telescope.
NEOWISE will slowly descend into a lower orbit and encounter drag from Earth’s denser atmosphere. which is the result of various phenomena of the sun that occur frequently during Solar Maximum just in time before it was confirmed that NEOWISE had returned to burn in the Earth’s atmosphere on November 2 at 7:49 am Thailand time. Across the ocean off the west coast of Australia
NASA Deputy Administrator Nicola Fox said, “While we are saddened to see NEOWISE’s incredible success in helping us understand our place in the universe, look for near-Earth asteroids and comets that could be dangerous. The mission must be completed. But we’re excited for future discovery missions as NEOWISE builds the foundation for the next generation of Earth-defending space telescopes.”
The space telescope was launched on December 14, 2009 under the name WISE, or Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, to record wide-angle images of the sky in the infrared spectrum. Before it was put into hibernation in 2011 when the cooling system was used As a result, heat waves interfere with the examination of objects in the infrared wave range.
NASA decided to renew its mission in 2013 and renamed NEOWISE with a new mission to protect the Earth by mapping the skies from orbit around the Earth. It shows the location of more than 44,000 near-Earth objects, including asteroids and comets, including the famous comet 2020 C / 2020 F3 (NEOWISE), which will not return to the system of the inner sun for the next 6,800 years.
The next Earth defense space telescope, called NEO Surveyor, is scheduled to launch in September 2027 to succeed the NEOWISE mission, which will end.
picture: NASA/JPL
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