Farewell, NEOWISE: Asteroid Hunter's Final Orbit Ends in a Blaze

NASA's NEOWISE spacecraft, which spent over a decade hunting near-Earth objects like asteroids, met its end in a dramatic way. On November 1, the craft burned up in Earth's atmosphere, as expected. Launched in 2009 as WISE, its main mission was to explore the universe in infrared light. When its coolant ran out, NASA repurposed it to find asteroids close to Earth. NEOWISE exceeded expectations, discovering over 3, 000 near-Earth objects. Its demise was due to the sun's increased activity, which heated up Earth's atmosphere and pulled NEOWISE down.

The craft's journey began with a launch aboard a Delta II rocket. Its initial task was to study the cosmos in infrared wavelengths. After running out of coolant, it was reborn as NEOWISE, focusing on nearby asteroids. This "second act" was a success, providing valuable data for scientists. The spacecraft's end was a result of the sun's 11-year activity cycle reaching its peak, causing more powerful solar flares and coronal mass ejections. NEOWISE didn't have a propulsion system to boost itself, so it was slowly dragged down by Earth's atmosphere. Its final moments were a fiery end, as it burned up upon reentry. NASA announced its demise on a social media platform. While NEOWISE is gone, NASA continues to search for asteroids with help from partner telescopes on Earth. A new asteroid hunter might also be launching soon.

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