Voyager's Sunset: NASA Begins Shutting Down Instruments to Extend Mission

2025-03-06
Voyager's Sunset: NASA Begins Shutting Down Instruments to Extend Mission

After nearly 50 years of interstellar exploration, the Voyager spacecraft are running low on power. To extend their operational lifespan, NASA engineers are progressively shutting down scientific instruments. Voyager 1's cosmic ray subsystem was deactivated on February 25th, followed by Voyager 2's low-energy charged particle instrument on March 24th. While these measures aim to keep the probes operational into the 2030s, they mean sacrificing valuable scientific data. Despite this, the Voyagers continue their pioneering journey into uncharted interstellar space, pushing the boundaries of human knowledge.