Nasa powers down two instruments on twin Voyager spacecraft to save power
The energy-saving moves were necessary to extend their missions, said Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd.
Nasa is switching off two science instruments on its long-running twin Voyager spacecraft to save power.
The space agency said an instrument on Voyager 2 that measures charged particles and cosmic rays will shut off later this month.
Last week, Nasa powered down an instrument on Voyager 1 designed to study cosmic rays.
The energy-saving moves were necessary to extend their missions, said Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd at the Nasa Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The twin spacecraft launched in 1977 and are currently in interstellar space, or the space between stars.
Voyager 1 discovered a thin ring around Jupiter and several of Saturn’s moons, and Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to visit Uranus and Neptune.
Each spacecraft still has three instruments apiece to study the sun’s protective bubble and the swathe of space beyond.
Voyager 1 is more than 15 billion miles from Earth and Voyager 2 is more than 13 billion miles away.
