Scientists attempt to "rescue" Spitzer Space Telescope when launched in 2026

CTOnews.com, May 17 (Xinhua) the Spitzer Space Telescope is officially decommissioned in 2020 after 17 years of service. NASA then "exiled" the telescope, allowing it to drift freely in the heliocentric orbit and eventually be swallowed by the sun.

The Spitzer Space Telescope has been in operation for five years, which has helped astronomers discover many newly formed stars and assisted the observation of exoplanets, providing a large amount of data support for related research.

All functions of the Spitzer Space Telescope work normally, mainly because the airborne liquid helium that keeps running is depleted. Without this coolant, the Spitzer Space Telescope cannot operate some scientific instruments.

Rhea Space Agency plans to launch a mission called "Spitzer Resurrector", which is basically a small spacecraft with a cube one meter long on one side.

Rhea Space Agency plans to launch in 2026, followed by three years to catch up with Spitzer Space Telescope.

After catching up, Spitzer Resurrector will fly 50 to 100km around the Spitzer Space Telescope, assess the condition of the telescope and try to re-establish communications.

If successful, data from Spitzer could be transmitted back to Earth via robots, allowing scientists to restore observations from the telescope.

The project has received US $250000 (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 1.745 million yuan). Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Blue Sun Enterprises, Lockheed Martin and John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory are all involved in the project.