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NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope will be permanently deactivated on January 30, 2020, after nearly 16 years of exploring the cosmos in infrared light, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said in a statement.
At that time, the spacecraft will be operational for more than eleven years beyond its main mission, said Thursday the JPL, quoted by the Xinhua News Agency.
Managed and managed by JPL, Spitzer is a small but transformational observatory. It captures infrared light, which is often emitted by "hot" objects that are not hot enough to emit visible light.
Spitzer has lifted the veil on hidden objects in almost every corner of the universe, from a new ring around Saturn to the observation of some of the most distant galaxies known.
"He observed stars at all stages of life, mapped our original galaxy, captured magnificent images of nebulae, and probed the newly discovered planets that revolved around distant stars," the statement said.
With a duration twice as long as that of the main mission, Spitzer's extended mission has yielded some of the most transformative results of the observatory, JPL said.
In 2017, the telescope revealed the presence of seven rocky planets around the TRAPPIST-1 star.
In many cases, Spitzer's exoplanet observations have been combined with those of other missions, including NASA's Kepler and Hubble space telescopes.
According to JPL, Spitzer's latest scientific activities include a number of investigations related to exoplanets. A program will study 15 dwarf stars likely to host exoplanets.
An additional 650 hours are devoted to tracking observations of planets discovered by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, launched a little over a year ago.
"There have been times when the Spitzer mission could have ended in a way that we had not planned," said Bolinda Kahr, Spitzer Mission Manager. "I am happy that in January we can remove the spacecraft deliberately, as we would like."
As its mission ends, Spitzer's mission laid the groundwork for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which is expected to be launched in 2021, and will study the universe in many lengths of space. Identical to those observed by Spitzer.
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