NASA Turns Off Voyager Science Devices to Delay Mission
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 06, 2025
NASA has carried out energy-saving measures to maintain the Voyager spacecraft operational for so long as doable, regardless of their reducing energy provide.
On February 25, mission engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California powered down the cosmic ray subsystem aboard Voyager 1, and on March 24, they may deactivate Voyager 2’s low-energy charged particle instrument. Every spacecraft will retain three operational science devices as a part of an ongoing effort to increase their lifespan.
Launched in 1977, the Voyager probes depend on a radioisotope thermoelectric generator, which progressively loses energy at a fee of roughly 4 watts per 12 months.
“The Voyagers have been exceptional explorers since launch, and we intention to proceed their legacy so long as doable,” stated Suzanne Dodd, Voyager challenge supervisor at JPL. “However with energy ranges dwindling, shutting down an instrument on every spacecraft now permits us to keep away from reaching a essential level the place a mission termination would change into inevitable.”
Every Voyager carried ten devices at launch, a number of of which have been designed for planetary flybys and have since been deactivated. The remaining devices have been essential in finding out the heliosphere-the huge bubble of photo voltaic wind that surrounds the photo voltaic system-and interstellar house past it. Voyager 1 handed this boundary in 2012, adopted by Voyager 2 in 2018, making them the one human-made objects to take action.
Final October, the plasma science instrument aboard Voyager 2 was turned off to preserve energy. It had been working with restricted effectiveness because of its orientation relative to interstellar plasma circulation. Voyager 1’s plasma instrument had been shut down years earlier because of efficiency degradation.
A Legacy of Interstellar Exploration
The cosmic ray subsystem that was deactivated on Voyager 1 consisted of three telescopes that studied cosmic rays, together with high-energy protons originating from the Solar and past our galaxy. These devices performed a key function in figuring out when Voyager 1 entered interstellar house.
Voyager 2’s low-energy charged particle instrument, scheduled for shutdown later this month, has measured ions, electrons, and cosmic rays from the photo voltaic system and interstellar house. This instrument contains two subsystems: a particle telescope that captures broad vitality ranges and a magnetospheric analyzer designed for centered research. A rotating platform permits for 360-degree knowledge assortment, powered by a stepper motor that has vastly exceeded its unique operational expectations. By the point of its deactivation, the motor may have accomplished greater than 8.5 million steps.
“The Voyager spacecraft far exceeded their unique planetary mission,” stated Patrick Koehn, Voyager program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Each extra knowledge level they accumulate is a scientific bonus and a testomony to their extraordinary engineering, which has endured for practically 5 many years.”
Maximizing Science with Restricted Energy
NASA engineers have sought to maintain the Voyagers’ devices energetic for so long as doable, given the spacecraft’s distinctive place in house. With the most recent instrument deactivations, the mission is anticipated to proceed for at the least one other 12 months earlier than additional energy reductions require extra shutdowns.
In the intervening time, Voyager 1 will keep operations of its magnetometer and plasma wave subsystem, whereas its low-energy charged particle instrument will stay energetic by way of 2025 earlier than being powered down subsequent 12 months. Voyager 2 will proceed operating its magnetic area and plasma wave devices, with its cosmic ray subsystem deliberate for shutdown in 2026.
These power-saving measures are anticipated to permit the spacecraft to proceed functioning with at the least one energetic science instrument into the 2030s. Nevertheless, the sturdiness of the practically 50-year-old spacecraft stays unsure, and unexpected technical points may shorten this timeline.
A Journey Past the Photo voltaic System
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 stay probably the most distant human-made objects, with Voyager 1 at the moment over 15 billion miles (25 billion kilometers) from Earth, and Voyager 2 greater than 13 billion miles (21 billion kilometers) away. As a result of this huge distance, communication indicators take greater than 23 hours to succeed in Voyager 1 and about 19.5 hours to succeed in Voyager 2.
“Each second the Voyagers proceed to function, they’re exploring uncharted territory,” stated Linda Spilker, Voyager challenge scientist at JPL. “Every day could possibly be the final, however every new day additionally brings the opportunity of one other groundbreaking discovery. We’re doing every little thing we are able to to increase their pioneering mission for so long as doable.”
Associated Hyperlinks
Voyager at ESA
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