“NASA’s Voyager 2 Spacecraft to Continue Operations with New Energy Strategy”

NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft will be able to continue operations for many years longer than anticipated with the new energy strategy.

NASA launched Voyager 2 in 1977 to orbit the outer edge of the solar system 12 billion miles from Earth, using five different instruments to study space. As the spacecraft’s power supply started to run low, NASA kicked on Jet Propulsion Laboratory He came up with a solution using the spacecraft’s spare power tanks, which NASA says will keep Voyager 2 in space until at least 2026, not this year.

According to NASA, Voyager 2 and Voyager 1 are the only two spacecraft operating outside Earth’s heliosphere, which is the sun-generated bubble of particles around itself and its planet.

“The science data Voyagers bring back becomes more valuable the farther from the sun, so we are very interested in keeping as many science instruments operational as possible for as long as possible,” Linda Spilker, Voyager project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, IN statement.

Scientists have turned off the heaters and other non-essential systems in both spacecraft to save energy as well, according to JPL. Scientists are considering shutting down one of the five instruments on Voyager 2 to conserve power, but they can tap into spare power tanks instead.

According to JPL, the Voyager’s electrical system and voltage have remained stable over the last 45 years, reducing the need for a “safety net” provided by a backup power source. If the new solution works for Voyager 2, scientists might try applying the same method to Voyager 1, which only had four instruments.

“Variable voltage poses a risk to the instrument, but we decided it was a minor risk, and the alternative offered a big payoff in the ability to keep scientific instruments turned on longer,” said Susan Dodd, Voyager project manager in the lab. in a statement. “We’ve been monitoring the spacecraft for several weeks, and this new approach appears to be working.”