NASA engineers have shut down one of Voyager 2’s science instruments due to the spacecraft’s power supply dwindling as it explores interstellar space. Voyager 2 launched into space on August 20, 1977 and left the solar system on November 5, 2018. It is currently 12.8 billion miles (20.5 billion kilometers) from Earth and is using … Read more
Voyager 2 Interstellar Probe Takes Off – NASA The Voyager 2 mission has been working to delay the shutdown as long as possible. Four other instruments aboard the interstellar spacecraft continue to operate. Mission engineers at NASA have turned off the plasma science instrument aboard the Voyager 2 spacecraft as the probe’s power supply gradually … Read more
The two Voyager spacecraft have been hurtling through space since 1977, powered by decaying pieces of plutonium that produce less and less energy each year. With less electricity available, NASA has decided to shut down an experiment on Voyager 2, the plasma science instrument. This device measures the amount and direction of ionized particles passing … Read more