NASA Retires NEOWISE: A Legendary Asteroid Hunter’s Final Mission
NASA has officially shut down NEOWISE, one of the most important space missions for tracking asteroids and comets. After nearly 15 years of operation, engineers sent a final command on August 8, 2024, turning off the spacecraft’s transmitter.
Nicola Fox, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate’s associate administrator, called NEOWISE a great success story. The mission helped identify asteroids and comets that could be a threat to Earth while deepening our understanding of space. Although its retirement is bittersweet, NEOWISE laid the foundation for the next generation of planetary defense telescopes.
From WISE to NEOWISE: A Mission Reborn
NEOWISE was not originally built as an asteroid hunter. It launched in December 2009 as the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), designed to scan the entire sky in infrared light. During its first seven months, WISE mapped the universe with incredible accuracy.
However, in 2010, the spacecraft ran out of cooling fluid, making it harder to observe deep space objects. Instead of shutting it down completely, NASA repurposed it as NEOWISE, focusing on asteroids and other near-Earth objects.
After being put into hibernation in 2011, NEOWISE was reactivated in 2013 when NASA realized it could still detect warm asteroids heated by the Sun. For the next 11 years, it continued scanning the sky, making numerous discoveries.
Key Discoveries and Legacy
NEOWISE identified over 3,000 near-Earth objects, including 215 that were previously unknown. It also discovered 25 comets, including the spectacular NEOWISE Comet (C/2020 F3), which put on a dazzling display in the summer of 2020.
Most importantly, NEOWISE paved the way for its successor: NEO Surveyor, a new asteroid-hunting spacecraft set to launch in 2027. This next-generation mission will continue the work of detecting and tracking potentially hazardous space objects.
While NEOWISE’s mission has ended, its impact on planetary defense and space exploration will be felt for years to come.
