NASA rescues Voyager 2 by deactivating an instrument from 20 billion kilometers away.
The probe has the necessary energy to continue its mission throughout the 2030s.
NASA has deactivated a key instrument on the aging Voyager 2 spacecraft to preserve its functionality. This decision was made after observing that the spacecraft's power source had been gradually diminishing. Voyager 2, which is 47 years old, has ten instruments on board, but currently only four are active to conserve energy for the most essential ones. Both Voyager spacecraft, operating in interstellar space, utilize a system that generates electricity from decaying plutonium, losing approximately 4 watts of power each year. Voyager 2 is estimated to have enough power to continue its mission into the 2030s.
The plasma science instrument, which was in use, was responsible for measuring the amount of electrically charged particles, known as plasma, as well as the direction in which they move outside the heliosphere, the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields created by the Sun. According to a NASA statement, mission engineers have taken steps to avoid turning off a scientific instrument for as long as possible, given that the data collected by the Voyagers is unique; no other human-made spacecraft has operated in interstellar space, which lies beyond the heliosphere.
The plasma instrument was crucial for NASA to determine that Voyager 2 had left the solar system and entered interstellar space in 2018, as the spacecraft detected changes in atoms, particles, and magnetic fields outside the heliosphere. The order to deactivate the device was transmitted on September 26 using the Deep Space Network. Since the spacecraft is approximately 20.5 billion kilometers from Earth, the signal took 19 hours to travel to and from.
The team has confirmed that the shutdown command was executed smoothly and the spacecraft continues to operate normally. Voyager 1 also had a plasma instrument, but it was deactivated in 2007 after ceasing to function in 1980. Both spacecraft were launched in 1977, one month apart, with the goal of exploring the planets of the outer solar system.
