DARK SECRETS: Nasa shuts down neowise asteroid hunter after almost 15 years in space | Rare Historical Photos

A prolific NASA asteroid-hunting mission has come to an end.

Engineers sent a final command to the agency's NEOWISE (Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) spacecraft on Thursday (Aug. 8), ordering the probe to turn off its transmitter after nearly 15 years of operation in low Earth orbit.