After 14 years in space, NASA's prolific NEOWISE asteroid-hunter is about to shut down

NEOWISE is depicted in an artist’s concept in front of an image of the infrared sky that the mission captured. The string of red dots moving across the sky near the center of the image is Holda, the first asteroid the space telescope detected shortly after being reactivated in 2013.

A NASA asteroid-hunting mission is coming to a close, paving the way for the next generation of planetary defense efforts. 

The NEOWISE (Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) mission will end on July 31. Building on the mission's 14-year success, NASA's NEO Surveyor (Near Earth Object Surveyor) — the first purpose-built infrared space telescope specifically dedicated to hunting hazardous near-Earth objects — will launch in late 2027, advancing the space agency's planetary defense strategy, according to a statement.