NASA Extends Voyager 2’s Mission Through 2027 From a Distance of 13 Billon Miles
Nearly 50 years after its historic journey began, NASA has extended the operational life of the legendary Voyager 2 spacecraft. Located about 13 billion miles from Earth, the ageing spacecraft has received a specialised software update that will allow it to continue conducting scientific operations for at least another year.
Through a special power-management procedure called “Big Bang,” NASA has reorganised the spacecraft’s power system so that it can continue collecting scientific data through 2027 without shutting down any additional scientific instruments.
Fighting a Half-Century Power Decline
Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 is powered by special generators that convert heat produced by the radioactive decay of plutonium into electricity. After decades of operation, its plutonium supply has gradually declined, causing the spacecraft to lose about 4 watts of power-generating capacity every year.
Voyager 2 originally operated with 10 scientific instruments. To conserve power, NASA gradually switched off most of them, eventually reducing the number to three.
Earlier this year, the spacecraft faced the possibility of permanently shutting down another instrument because of its worsening power shortage. However, the Big Bang operation allowed NASA to simultaneously switch multiple power-consuming systems to lower-power alternatives while maintaining sufficient heat to keep the spacecraft functioning.
A Historic Journey Beyond the Solar System
Voyager 2 began its journey about two weeks before its twin spacecraft, Voyager 1, with the mission of studying the outer gas-giant planets of the Solar System. It reached Jupiter in 1979 and went on to achieve the unique feat of visiting all four of the Solar System’s giant planets within the following decade.
In 2018, Voyager 2 crossed the heliosphere—the protective bubble surrounding the Sun and its planets—and entered interstellar space. From there, the spacecraft continues to send valuable scientific data back to Earth about the density and temperature of plasma in deep space.
After nearly half a century, one of humanity’s most successful spacecraft is still answering questions about the space beyond our Solar System.
//DBTech/BMT/OR//
