Today marks the final mission of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Conceived of as an infrared-optimized "Great Observatory," Spitzer has spend the last 6002 days providing Earthlings with an unprecedented view into other galaxies, our own solar system, and (unexpected to its designers!) planets around other stars. But in its Earth-trailing solar orbit, Spitzer is now over 1.5 astronomical units from the Earth: radio transmissions are increasingly difficult, and (more importantly) Spitzer's operating costs were ultimately deemed to be too high relative to its science output.
Spitzer's infrared capabilities won't be replaced until 2021 (at the earliest) when NASA's James Webb Space Telescope -- an even larger successor to Spitzer and the Hubble -- is anticipated to launch. Bon voyage, Spitzer -- we'll see you again in about 30 years when our orbits meet up again.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday January 31 2020, @04:06AM
It will be even more screwed up by the time it swings around again.
The JWST design could probably be replicated and launched for under $1 billion if there was a push for it. For example, one of the hundreds of moving parts in JWST #1 breaks, JWST #2 could be launched with the mirrors fully unfolded and rigid using Starship.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]