NASA finds new way to keep 50-year-old spacecraft alive:In a surprising move, Voyager 2, launched in 1977, still sending scientific data

Imagine sending a machine into space in 1977 and, almost five decades later, still receiving scientific data from it. That is the incredible journey of NASA’s Voyager 2. But the spacecraft is now facing a major problem: it is slowly running out of power. Voyager 2 is billions of miles from Earth, travelling through interstellar space where repairing or refuelling it is impossible. With its power supply shrinking every year, NASA engineers had been facing the possibility of shutting down one of its remaining scientific instruments. Instead, they found another solution: to save electricity by replacing some power-hungry systems with ones that use less energy. Why is Voyager 2 running out of power? Voyager 2 does not use solar panels to generate electricity because it is far too deep in space for sunlight to be useful. Instead, it uses special generators called radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs). In simple terms, these generators turn the heat produced by slowly decaying plutonium into electricity. But the plutonium has been producing less heat as it gets older. As a result, Voyager 2 loses roughly 4 watts of electrical power every year. That may not sound like much, but for a spacecraft launched nearly 50 years ago, every watt now matters. NASA’s ‘Big Bang’ power-saving plan NASA engineers came up with a major power-saving operation nicknamed ‘Big Bang.’ The idea was simple: switch off certain devices that consume power and replace some of them with lower-power alternatives. NASA had already taken several steps to reduce Voyager 2’s electricity use. Non-essential systems, including some heaters and cameras, had been switched off over the years. But eventually, the spacecraft had reached a critical point. NASA was faced with a difficult choice: turn off one of Voyager 2’s remaining five science instruments or risk running out of usable power. Engineers instead searched for more ways to reduce the spacecraft’s energy consumption. The spacecraft power margins have grown razor thin, highlighting how carefully the team now has to manage Voyager 2’s limited electricity. The spacecraft still needs to stay warm Saving power is not as simple as switching everything off. Voyager 2 is operating in an extremely cold environment. Some systems need to remain warm enough to function properly. So NASA engineers had to carefully balance power savings with the spacecraft’s heating needs. The team simultaneously switched off selected powered devices and moved to lower-power alternatives, freeing up electricity without putting the spacecraft’s essential systems at unnecessary risk. Also read: WhatsApp working normally after outage in India: Downdetector reports disruption until 11:26 a.m., with users flagging issues

Voyager 2 can now keep doing science longer The power-saving operation could give Voyager 2 enough electricity to keep its three remaining science instruments operating for at least another year. Without the latest power-saving effort, NASA said the spacecraft would have needed to shut down another instrument before the end of 2026. That means a relatively small amount of saved electricity could make a major difference to the spacecraft’s scientific mission. Why is Voyager 2 so important? Voyager 2 is more than just an old spacecraft. Launched in 1977, it has travelled farther than almost any spacecraft built before it and is now exploring interstellar space, the region beyond the protective bubble created by our Sun. Over its long journey, Voyager 2 has provided scientists with valuable information about the outer planets and the environment beyond our solar system. Even today, its instruments continue to collect data from a region of space that is extremely difficult for humans to study directly. Every additional year of operation therefore gives scientists another year of information from a place no other mission can easily reach. NASA plans to do the same with Voyager 1 Voyager 2 is not the only ageing spacecraft facing this power problem. NASA also plans to carry out a similar power-saving operation on Voyager 1, which is even farther from Earth. The team expects to complete that effort in the coming months. The Voyager spacecraft were designed decades ago, long before today’s advanced computers and spacecraft technology. Yet engineers are still finding ways to keep them working despite their ageing hardware and shrinking power supply. The latest move shows that extending a space mission does not always require building a new spacecraft. Sometimes, it means finding smarter ways to use the little power an old one has left. For Voyager 2, every saved watt could mean more time to explore the space beyond our solar system and send valuable scientific information back to Earth.