After nearly half a century in space, the Voyager 1 spacecraft has shut down one of its last remaining scientific instruments in a desperate attempt to conserve power. NASA’s decision to power down the instruments comes just before the final “big bang” moment that mission managers hope will further extend the lives of the two Voyager spacecraft later this summer.
On Friday (April 17), Voyager 1 was ordered to halt its Low Energy Charged Particle (LECP) experiment, which has been observing ions, electrons and cosmic rays around the spacecraft for the past 49 years.
The spacecraft was launched in 1977 and was originally intended to explore Jupiter and Saturn, but its mission was extended multiple times. In 2012, Voyager 1 officially reached interstellar space, becoming the first spacecraft to transmit data from outside the solar system. It remains the most distant spacecraft in history.
The twin Voyager 2 probes, which explored every exoplanet from Jupiter to Neptune, entered interstellar space about six years later, and the two probes continue to communicate from the darkness.
But their time is running out. Both spacecraft rely on radioisotope thermoelectric generators that convert decaying plutonium into electricity. Spacecraft lose about 4 watts of power per year.
Representatives from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which manages the Voyager program, wrote: “With power margins so thin, the team must turn off heaters and instruments to conserve energy while also ensuring the spacecraft does not get so cold that its fuel lines freeze.” In a blog post on April 17th.
after that recent shutoffOnly two of Voyager 1’s 10 scientific instruments are powered, and Voyager 2 currently has three instruments operating. These instruments have helped scientists characterize the conditions of the universe outside our solar system and the physical properties of the solar interface, the boundary where the solar wind collides with the interstellar medium.
“big bang”
This latest Voyager 1 instrument outage currently only gives the spacecraft a lifespan of about a year, but there are plans to get even more out of it. JPL plans to use a “big bang” procedure to try to extend the dwindling power reserves of Voyager 2 as well as Voyager 1.
“The idea is to replace a series of power receiving devices at once, which is where its nickname comes from. By turning off some and replacing them with lower-power alternatives, you can keep the spacecraft warm enough to continue collecting science data,” JPL representatives wrote in a blog post.
Two instruments on Voyager 1 are currently studying magnetic fields and plasma (superheated gas) waves. But if all goes to plan, the team hopes to recover enough power from the Big Bang to turn LECP back on. In fact, the engineers decided to keep the small 0.5 watt motor for the LECP running for the time being in order to get the equipment back into service.
JPL plans to conduct big bang tests in May and June on Voyager 2, which has more power available and is slightly closer to Earth. If all goes well, Voyager 1’s more dangerous Big Bang moment won’t happen until July at the earliest.
Voyager 1 is so far from Earth that it takes 23 hours to send a command.15 billion miles (25 billion kilometers) away. After JPL relayed the command, the LECP shutdown process took just over three hours. Starting again may be a bit difficult, especially given the cold and distance.
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