NASA powers down two Voyager science instruments to extend mission life
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NASA powers down two Voyager science instruments to extend mission life
by DC Agle, Calla Cofield , NASA
NASA Turns Off 2 Voyager Science Instruments to Extend Mission - NASA
An artist’s concept depicts one of NASA’s Voyager probes. The twin spacecraft launched in 1977. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mission engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California turned off the cosmic ray subsystem experiment aboard Voyager 1 on Feb. 25 and will shut off Voyager 2's low-energy charged particle instrument on March 24. Three science instruments will continue to operate on each spacecraft. The moves are part of an ongoing effort to manage the gradually diminishing power supply of the twin probes.
Launched in 1977, Voyagers 1 and 2 rely on a radioisotope power system that generates electricity from the heat of decaying plutonium. Both lose about 4 watts of power each year.
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"The Voyagers have been deep space rock stars since launch, and we want to keep it that way as long as possible," said Suzanne Dodd, Voyager project manager at JPL. "But electrical power is running low. If we don't turn off an instrument on each Voyager now, they would probably have only a few more months of power before we would need to declare end of mission."