NASA shuts down Spitzer Space Telescope after 16 years of commendable service

After 16 years of observations that helped paint a more accurate picture of the universe, one of NASA's greatest telescopes will go offline. The Spitzer Space Telescope, which allowed scientists to view objects that are cooler than stars that emit visible light, was launched in 2003 to observe the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum of the universe.

Paul Hertz, Director of Astrophysics at NASA issued a statement about the mission saying, "The advances we make across many areas in astrophysics in the future will be because of Spitzer's extraordinary legacy."

Operations of the Spitzer came to an end on January 29 and the mission team will be putting the spacecraft into a permanent hibernation mode, after which the Spitzer will continue its trajectory and travel further away from Earth over time. Team members have reason to believe that it will eventually crash into a debris field.

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Interstellar dust was the Spitzer's primary concern, which cocoons baby stars and provides the building blocks for planets, thereby creating an invisible skeleton of galaxies across the universe. A technique called spectroscopy was used by Spitzer which allowed scientists to measure the chemical composition of space dust to learn more of the ingredients of the universe.

NASA stated that Spitzer was instrumental in revealing that galaxies in the early universe were heavier than was previously postulated, thus deepening our understanding of how galaxies evolve over time. Spitzer had to balance between being cool enough to not emit heat while travelling through space and to be far enough away from the Earth to get images without interference from the infrared environment around the planet and the moon.

The Spitzer Mission was not designed to function for 16 years, nor was it designed to be operational at its current distance from Earth. Joseph Hunt, the Project Manager issued a statement saying, "The team has had to adapt year after year to keep the spacecraft operating. But I think overcoming that challenge has given people a great sense of pride in the mission. This mission stays with you."