Voyager 2's Final Chapter: Instrument Shutdown Marks New Phase in Deep Space Journey

NASA has announced decision to turn off one of Voyager 2’s five remaining instruments, signaling potential nearing of spacecraft's historic mission. In an October 1 announcement, agency explained, “engineers held off as long as possible to continue garing valuable and unique data, but ultimately chose to power down spacecraft’s plasma science instrument to conserve Voyager 2’s remaining power supplies.”

Launched in 1977, Voyager probes were designed to travel farr into deep space than any or human-me objects. However, maintaining ir operational systems requires a sustainable power source. Both spacecraft rely on three rioisotope rmoelectric generators (RTGs) fueled by decaying plutonium-238. While y initially provided about 470 watts at 30 volts, plutonium's 87.74-year half-life has led to an annual power loss of roughly 0.79 percent. After over 47 years in operation, probes now function on an estimated two-thirds of ir original power.

plasma science instrument was designed to study Sun's particle emissions, utilizing four cup-like tools. Three of se cups are oriented towards Sun to record solar wind within heliosphere, while fourth captures data on various planetary magnetospheres and interstellar space. Although critical for determining Voyager 2’s exit from heliosphere in 2018, instrument's usefulness has decreased significantly since n. NASA noted that, at time of shutdown, plasma science instrument was only providing particularly useful data about once every three months.

decision to shut down instrument reflects inevitable scaling back of Voyager 2's operations. Sending “power off” signal on September 26 took 19 hours to reach Voyager 2, located over 12.9 billion miles from Earth at about 48 degrees south of sun’s ecliptic. confirmation signal took anor 19 hours to return.

This is not first instance of engineers shutting down equipment aboard Voyager probes. Following ir initial mission surveys of solar system's gas giants in 1980s, NASA turned off multiple nonessential instruments. Currently, all nonessential tools aboard both spacecraft, including several heaters, are offline. Voyager 1’s plasma science instrument was also deactivated in 1980 but was turned off to conserve power in 2007.

Despite challenges, both Voyager probes continue to make history by venturing furr into deep space than any or human-me objects. With no fatal issues, NASA believes it is possible for Voyager 1 and 2 to transmit data from at least one operating instrument well into 2030s. “While this may be a longshot, NASA engineers are doing everything y can to increase those odds.”