NASA's Spitzer telescope refuses to die – BGR



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The NASA Spitzer Space Telescope finally arrives at the end of an absolutely amazing journey. The spacecraft has been scanning space in space for more than fifteen years and has exceeded its planned initial mission schedule of more than eleven years. At that time, he made incredible discoveries and offered scientists new insights into the workings of some of our nearby planetary neighbors as well as distant objects that we can only dream of visiting one day.

Now, with the planned dismantling scheduled for Jan. 30, 2020, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory looks back on its incredible journey, while providing a technical insight into why the still-functioning telescope will need to be closed.

Spitzer is an infrared telescope, which means it does not see things in the same way as, for example, the Hubble telescope. It detects heat rather than visible light, allowing it to see things undetectable by optical telescopes. This has made it incredibly useful to spot very distant stars and to discover various features of the Milky Way that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Unfortunately, its mission ends sooner than expected, and the biggest drawback is that the telescope will still be technically functional when NASA finally disconnects the plug. But why?

NASA's JPL offers some basic information:

Spitzer revolves around the Sun on a path similar to that of the Earth but moves slightly more slowly. Today, it trails about 254 million kilometers behind our planet, more than 600 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. This distance, as well as the Spitzer orbit curve, means that when the spacecraft points its fixed antenna towards the Earth to download data or receive commands, its solar panels move away from the Sun. During these times, the spacecraft must rely on a combination of solar energy and battery to operate.

It would be nice, without the fact that the distance between the telescope and the Earth continues to lengthen. In the many years since its launch, NASA has had to drastically adjust the telescope's solar generator to maintain its power while communicating with Earth. Even then, it can only return data for about two and a half hours before having to adjust again.

Unfortunately, the spacecraft is not efficient enough to justify future use and, starting in January 2020, NASA will have to close it permanently.

Image Source: NASA / JPL

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