The US space agency is taking steps to conserve energy for its aging spacecraft. The Voyager probes, launched in 1977, have been traveling through space for nearly five decades, with one spacecraft now more than 13 billion miles from Earth. To save power, NASA has announced that it will deactivate one instrument on each of the Voyager spacecraft.
The instruments, which observe fast-moving charged particles called cosmic rays and other particles in interstellar space, are no longer needed as much due to their age. Deactivating these instruments is a deliberate energy-saving measure. The changes were made after two recent deactivations: one for Voyager 1’s cosmic ray subsystem experiment on February 25 and the other for Voyager 2’s low-energy charged particle instrument on March 24.
This reduction in power consumption will allow NASA to extend the lifespan of its spacecraft, ensuring they continue to provide valuable data on the interstellar medium.
Source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasas-voyager-probes-lose-one-instrument-each-as-power-wanes