A space-based defense telescope designed to track asteroids that pose a threat to Earth has been decommissioned after more than a decade of operation.
According to media reports, NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) has been officially deactivated.
The space agency sent the final command to the NEOWISE spacecraft from its Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, ending the defensive mission that had been active for over 10 years.
NASA retired the infrared survey telescope after downloading all scientific data because it will soon descend too low in its orbit around Earth to transmit usable information.
