NASA Extends Voyager 2 Mission 21.37 Billion Km Away, Preserving 3 Instruments
Updated
Updated · IFLScience · Aug 7
NASA Extends Voyager 2 Mission 21.37 Billion Km Away, Preserving 3 Instruments
3 articles · Updated · IFLScience · Aug 7
Summary
Two powered-down devices on Voyager 2 were replaced with lower-power alternatives, a NASA move announced Aug. 4 that keeps the probe warm and operating in interstellar space.
About 4 watts of power vanish each year from each Voyager as plutonium in their radioisotope generators decays, forcing engineers to shut off non-essential or scientifically valuable equipment to stretch mission life.
Three instruments on Voyager 2 — the magnetometer, Plasma Wave Subsystem and Cosmic Ray Subsystem — can now keep running, with earlier reporting saying the "Big Bang" swap may buy at least another year of science operations.
Voyager 1, now more than 25.57 billion km from Earth, is due for the same power-saving swap in coming months; both 1977 spacecraft could stay in Deep Space Network range into the 2030s.
With its plutonium decaying, what final cosmic secrets will Voyager 2 uncover during its newly granted year of life?
How did NASA engineers successfully hack a 1977 spacecraft from 21 billion kilometers away to survive interstellar space?
Voyager 2’s 2026 Power Crisis: How NASA’s “Big Bang” Maneuver Extended Interstellar Science to 50 Years and Beyond
Overview
Voyager 2’s power has steadily declined due to plutonium decay and aging thermocouples, threatening the shutdown of its last science instruments. To prevent this, NASA engineers performed a daring 'Big Bang' power swap in August 2026, simultaneously switching multiple systems to lower-power alternatives. This maneuver was essential because sequential swaps would have caused critical subsystems to freeze and fail. With Voyager 2 over 12 billion miles from Earth and a 40-hour communication delay, real-time corrections were impossible. The successful swap postponed instrument shutdowns for at least a year, ensuring continued science returns as the spacecraft journeys deeper into interstellar space.