September 16, 2024
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission, which tracked celestial bodies close to Earth, has ended after over a decade. During its operational period, the NEOWISE space telescope monitored and studied comets and asteroids including ones that could pose a danger to Earth, thus aiding in planetary defense. The telescope was launched as WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) in 2009 and was focussed on studying the sky and discovering celestial objects using infrared light. WISE was renamed NEOWISE in 2013 and was focussed on detecting near-Earth objects (NEOs). The mission concluded on August 8.
DID YOU KNOW?
NEOWISE discovered 215 NEOs during its 10.6 years of operation.
Artist’s Impression of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer | Image Source: wikipedia.org
