Nearly 48 years after its launch, NASA engineers have found a way to keep Voyager 2’s mission going for at least another year. Could the spacecraft even remain operational through its 50th anniversary?
Nicknamed the “Big Bang,” the effort involved shutting down some powered devices and replacing them with lower-power alternatives while keeping the spacecraft warm enough to function. Voyager 2 is powered by radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which convert heat from decaying plutonium into electricity.
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Because the plutonium fuel steadily depletes, Voyager 2 loses about 4 watts of power each year. After nearly five decades in space, its power levels have become extremely limited, forcing engineers to conserve energy by shutting down nonessential systems.
Without the effort, NASA would have been forced to shut down one of Voyager 2’s instruments by the end of this year. NASA now says the mission can continue into 2027.
NASA said it plans to perform the same “Big Bang” effort on Voyager 1 in the coming months.
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 each launched with 10 scientific instruments.
Several of the instruments were designed for the spacecrafts’ flybys of planets. Since 2024, NASA has shut down two additional scientific instruments, leaving three still operating on each spacecraft.
Voyager 1 is currently about 2.6 billion miles farther from Earth than Voyager 2. Later this year, Voyager 1 is expected to become the first spacecraft to travel more than a light-day from Earth, meaning light from Earth will take a full day to reach it.
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 remain the only spacecraft to operate outside the solar system’s heliosphere.
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