NASA engineers have successfully executed a clever fix to extend the operational life of Voyager 2. Squeezing out precious power, the team found a way to buy at least another year of scientific exploration nearly half a century after the probe left Earth.
A shrinking nuclear battery
Voyager 2 relies on a plutonium-powered battery that loses about 4 watts of power every year. “The spacecraft power margins have grown razor thin requiring the team to conserve energy by shutting off non-essential devices and systems,” NASA officials explained.
Without intervention, engineers would have been forced to permanently turn off one of Voyager 2’s three remaining science instruments before the end of the year.
The “Big Bang” operation
To solve the crisis, flight controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory executed a complex maneuver nicknamed the “Big Bang.” They simultaneously turned off non-essential, power-hungry hardware components and swapped them with lower-power alternatives.
The operation required extreme precision to ensure the probe stayed warm enough to survive in the freezing chill of deep space.
Exploring interstellar frontiers
The newly freed energy gives Voyager 2 enough power to keep all three active instruments gathering data until at least late 2027. Now floating over 13 billion miles from Earth, the probe continues sending back unique measurements from interstellar space.
Next steps for twin Voyager 1
Following this success, NASA plans to perform the same “Big Bang” power swap on Voyager 1 in the coming months. Engineers hope these tweaks will keep both human ambassadors collecting data for as long as possible.
