NASA has taken steps to conserve power on its twin Voyager spacecraft by shutting down two science instruments. The move will help extend their missions in interstellar space, where the spacecraft are now located.
Voyager 2’s charged particle and cosmic ray measurement instrument is set to be powered down later this month, while Voyager 1’s similar instrument was turned off last week. This decision comes as both spacecraft remain over 13 billion miles away from Earth.
Despite the power reduction, each spacecraft will still have three instruments to study the sun’s protective bubble and the surrounding space environment. The Voyager mission, launched in 1977, has already made significant discoveries about Jupiter’s ring system and Saturn’s moons, with Voyager 2 being the only spacecraft to visit Uranus and Neptune.
With these energy-saving measures, NASA aims to prolong the twin spacecraft’s journeys into the unknown, providing scientists with valuable data for years to come.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/nasa-voyager-spacecraft-578152fef6a7b497015247dfcd7a484f