NASA Shuts Down Space Observer Instruments To Extend Voyager's Welfare
JAKARTA NASA turned off the Voyager 1 instrument, a decades-old spacecraft, at the end of February 2025. In the near future, other important instruments will be turned off by Voyager 2.
The US space agency said it needed to shut down some of Voyager's instruments in order to save missions. If not done, both Voyager 1 and 2 will find it difficult to survive within the next few months.
Therefore, NASA technicians have shut down the cosmic ray sub-system experiment on Voyager 1 on February 25, 2025, and will turn off the next instrument on Voyager 2 on March 24. The instrument is a low-energy charged particle.
"We want to keep it as long as possible," saidten Dodd, Voyager Project Manager, quoted from NASA's official website. "Electricity (Voyager) is running low. If we don't turn off the instruments on every Voyager now, Voyager will probably only have a few more months of electric power."
Voyager 1 and 2 launched in 1977. This spacecraft utilizes an electric-producing radioisotope power system from decomposed plutonium heat. Unfortunately, Voyager 1 and 2 lose 4W of power every year.
When first placed in space, this spacecraft carried ten scientific instruments. During the mission, several instruments had to be turned off, but most were carried out because the exploration mission against the gas giant had been completed.
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Now, Voyager's life depends on energy saving. The less energy spent, the longer Voyager 1 and 2 are able to survive. Now, each ride only carries three instruments that are considered to play an important role.
The three remaining instruments work as heliospheric learning tools in the solar system, protective bubbles of the solar wind and the solar magnetic field, interstellar space, as well as areas outside the heliosphere.
With the turn off of two Voyager instruments, NASA technicians believe that this ride can last longer thanks to sufficient power. At least Voyager 1 and 2 can last up to one year before other instruments are turned off.